Housing Market Upbeat
Halifax have released figures, that will not help the feeling of homeowners who are trying to be rid of their property as week demand for the housing market has seen prices stall and level out, for the first 6 months of the year.
Though the market has depressed property prices rose ever so slightly in the month of June (0.1%), but in two out of the last four month saw the value of the housing market fall and this has meant that house prices now, are the same as they were at the start of the year.
This 0.1% rise meant that the average property climbed in price to £162,605, a rise of only £194 than the prices in the month of May, the Halifax claimed.
The Halifax report also threw up that these figures, meant that the annual growth rate, had fallen to it’s lowest level, in almost four years at 3.7%, although these figures look as if the housing market has reach it’s peak and after levelling out, that the inevitable fall may occur, but this is simply not the case, as the housing market saw a sharp fall in the second part of 2004 and has actually gained a bit a momentum, as more were approved, a run that went up every month from January to May.
This is in sharp contrast to another report made a week or so ago, by the Nationwide who were a little more backward in coming forward, with claims that the market had “Stagnated”, this was true for some parts of the country, with the likes of East Anglia Greater London and the South East all seeing a sharp fall, but areas such as Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, saw some property prices rise as much as 4.2%. Which has meant that the gulf in house prices in the north and south divide, narrowed from £90,000 to £80,000 (average) a substantial drop of £10,000.
There are plenty of factors, which ease the worries of many of the homeowners, who have seen the value of their property fall in recent months. What they should remember is that the with wage rises out stripping those property prices, also another plus is the state of the UK’s employment situation and it is in a healthy state and is in fact at a record high.
And another plus for the people of London is the winning of the Olympic bid, as prices in the last five cities that held the games, rose a remarkable 66% so it’s not all the doom and gloom that some may lead you to believe.
