House prices rise again
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
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House prices rose for the third time in four months during June as the market was boosted by a shortage of properties being put up for sale, figures showed today.
The average value of a UK home rose by 0.9% during the month to stand at £156,442, according to Nationwide.
The annual rate at which house prices are declining also fell for the fourth month in a row, dropping to 9.3% - the first time for a year that the measure has been in single digits.
But despite property prices now being only 0.2% lower than they were at the beginning of the year, the group warned that the recent improvement was unlikely to mark the beginning of a sustained recovery.
It said that while the rises seen since March were likely to be more than just "statistical noise", they were taking place against a backdrop of very low activity.
The number of mortgages being approved for house purchase is still 55% below its long-term average despite recent rises, and at a level which is usually associated with falling prices.
Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "While it is encouraging to see that prices are no longer seeing steep falls, there are still many obstacles in the way of a genuine and sustainable price recovery.
"To begin with, abnormally low supply levels are unlikely to last forever, as the recent price increases should make previously hesitant sellers feel more confident about marketing their properties."
He added that more properties were also likely to come on to the market as the economic downturn took its toll on homeowners.
There has been a run of positive data on the housing market in recent weeks as potential buyers have been tempted back by record low interest rates and recent house prices falls.
But figures released by the Bank of England yesterday showed that the number of mortgages approved for house purchase had levelled out at around 43,000 during May.
Economists said the figure, which was below their expectations, highlighted the current fragile state of the housing market.
They warned that house prices still had further to fall due to rising unemployment and the ongoing problems in the mortgage market.
Nationwide said all regions of the UK saw a moderation in the annual rate at which house prices are falling during the second quarter.
The slide in house prices still remains steepest in Northern Ireland, where the average home costs 26% less than it did during the second quarter of 2008, while falls have been lowest in Wales at 6.2%.
The group said there had been significant improvements in house prices in London, the South East, East Anglia and Wales during the three months, with all of these regions posting quarterly gains.
Wales led the way with a quarterly rise of 7.7%, followed by East Anglia at 5.2% and London at 4.8%.
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Comments
42 Comments
house prices are so low ,the only way they can go is up .
Posted by bond | 13.07.09, 19:25 GMT
yeah right............ yawn !! BT, stop filling your readers heads with false hope and facts which aren't relevant here.......... prices here will continue to decline, as the local economy has been paralysed.
Posted by gordan white | 09.07.09, 13:07 GMT
'House Prices Rise Again'
This Heading is a direct contradiction to what it states in the third last sentence of the feature, (which is the only part which refers to Northern Ireland) ie -
"The slide in house prices still remains steepest in Northern Ireland, where the average home costs 26% less than it did during the second quarter of 2008".
Noticeable is the very low level of comments made by those in favour of house price rises.
Posted by Dora Jarre | 02.07.09, 15:19 GMT
London: -14.3% (average price £302,411)
East Midlands: -14.7% (£122,532)
West Midlands: -15% (£129,382)
East: -16.3% (£160,068)
Wales: -12.8% (£122,241)
South East: -17.2% (£187,124)
North West: -16.3% (£116,009)
Yorkshire & the Humber: -15.6% (£122,339)
South West: -18% (£159,704)
North East: -17.3% (£106,769)
Source: Land Registry of England & Wales
NI £135K. Unemployment Rising Banks not lending and the brunt of the reccession yet to come......... and average of £120k is my prediction
Posted by Merit | 02.07.09, 13:31 GMT
I think they call this ramping, but hey, why let the local truth get in the way of a good headline. The Bel Tel is like The Daily Mail in reverse when it comes to house prices. I wonder why?
Posted by Wise Up | 01.07.09, 21:49 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/...
Here is the truth from the BBC. A 26% drop in the last 12 months.
2007 The average house in Northern Ireland costs more than £250,000, according to the latest survey.
2009 The average house in NI is now worth £135,862.
Something has just occurred to me. Anyone who has bought a house since 2006 or even before is now in substantial negative equity. Given the stringent lending practices of the banks now. How are they, the ones on fixed term 3 year and 5 year deals, going to be able to remortgage when the reach the end of their 3 year or 5 year deal? That could be a real disaster for some families.
Posted by Merit | 01.07.09, 18:20 GMT
prices are still falling
dont move improve let the greedy developers pay of their big mortgages with there own money
plenty of good used houses on the market
prices drop builders cut workers rates and build timber framed houses to save more money
not so many helicopters about now
Posted by who would buy a house from you | 30.06.09, 22:08 GMT
Not again........... every week its the same nonsense from the Belfast Telegraph. Can you not afford real journalists. Please stop making yourselves look foolish.
Posted by Merit | 30.06.09, 20:18 GMT
Spellchecker, in grown-up world it's called a typo.
"article" as in newspaper article.
Thanks for proving my point, good post.
Feel free to spellcheck all the comments.
Posted by Belfast Boy | 30.06.09, 19:28 GMT
house prices have further to fall. They are still unaffordable and with banks demanding large deposits will continue to remain so.
Interest rates are currently at an all time low but will inevitably rise when things pick up making morgages even less affordable.
House prices are not even close to bottoming out yet. They will continue to fall until employment stabilises and people can afford to get on to the bottom run of the housing market. Still a long way off!!!
Posted by aaron | 30.06.09, 17:18 GMT
The Guardian today reports on Nationwide's findings but splits the figures down into each individual region.
Direct quote: "The property downturn continues apace in Northern Ireland where Nationwide's figures showed a 4.7% fall in house prices over the second quarter."
Can anyone from the Telegraph explain?
Posted by Ted Maul | 30.06.09, 17:02 GMT
Baz - '3.5x salary'. Already near there in some sectors. Know of quite a few 3 bed new builds in ok areas for 80-90k, with average salaries of 23-25k depending where you get your stats from we are already at x4. Council houses have largely come right back down to earth too. Other sectors are following suit, it just takes time for fantisisers and the middle class to either take there houses off the market or lower prices. U av less to say when its an article on NI prices ive noticed...
Posted by Lee | 30.06.09, 17:01 GMT
Belfast Boy - no one has a cheek to criticise the Belfast Telegraph as they told us countless times we wouldn't be affected by the recession, there would be no recession here, house prices would only ever go up amongst other bulls....rubbish.
Sloppy journalism isn't the word. Vested interest is what comes to mind as also does financial grooming!
I hope house prices here go through the floor so my friends, family and I can all buy homes without having to slave for the rest of our lives.
Posted by The Real Liam | 30.06.09, 16:59 GMT
And now for the double dip.
Posted by Confucius | 30.06.09, 16:55 GMT
I was awaiting the Belfast Telegraph tripping over themselves to report this. During the spring bounce Northern Ireland house prices HAVE FALLEN.
This is wonderful news. Finally for the young, we are continuing to get cheaper, more affordable, better priced houses. We are still a long way off yet but we are getting there.
The people who will be in charge when the reckless older generation of today will be retired, will be the young & we won't allow you to get away with it after taxes explode!
Posted by The Real Liam | 30.06.09, 16:55 GMT
As everyone else here has already pointed out what are the Belfast Telegraph playing at. We are peddled lazy 'journalism' which bares no relation to reality. We demand better from the Belfast Telegraph, stop treating the public like morons!
Posted by M S | 30.06.09, 16:51 GMT
What on earth has an 'articale' got to do with house prices?
What is an articale anyway, Belfast Boy !
Posted by Spellchecker | 30.06.09, 16:43 GMT
Very few people in NI will read the full Nationwide report, they will expect to get their news delivered to them by our local press.
The Belfast Tele is an established and popular source of news. It saddens me that the information being given by the Tele is incorrect and misleading.
Its getting to the stage where I will no longer buy the Tele for fear of other important news stories being reported incorrectly and recklessly.
Am sad.
Posted by Broken | 30.06.09, 16:20 GMT
its far too early to predict how house prices in NI will be affected by this recession, as it has still to hit NI in the shape of the Public Services cutbacks.
Posted by Stephen | 30.06.09, 16:01 GMT
Why do people always state the same old comment like - "Will cheaper house prices in NI mean cheaper rates bills?"
The value used for the rates bill is from a few years ago anyway. Your rates bill will showed your rated value. During the boom would you have liked the rates bill to go up accordingly?
No one likes paying rates but we have to. simple.
Again - like the "Loyalist" racist story its another awful headline from BT
Posted by John | 30.06.09, 15:11 GMT
42 Comments