News

House prices falling in a THIRD of the country sparking fears of a nationwide slowdown

• A third of postcodes saw property prices fall in three months to November
• Slowdown hitting parts of London despite 17% price rise across the capital
• A quarter of capital’s post codes areas are now experiencing falling prices

House prices are falling all over Britain as the property market ends the year with a whimper.
The value of the average home fell in nearly a third of UK postcodes in the three months to November, according to property website Hometrack.
This compares with declines in less than one in five areas last spring, and is further evidence to suggest the housing market is now cooling.
The slowdown has even hit London, which for much of the past year has been in the grip of a house price boom.
Prices fell in a quarter of the capital’s postcodes in the three months to November – compared with just 5 per cent in the three months to May.
Among the worst hit areas of the UK are Aberdeen in Scotland, Lakenheath near Cambridge, Redland in Bristol and Caversham in Reading, where prices were rising strongly earlier in the year.
In London, the worst-affected markets include previously booming Wandsworth, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham – as well as Knightsbridge, home to the rich and famous. The softening of the market follows a clampdown on risky mortgage lending by the Bank of England, and worries that some areas have become overpriced.
‘Everything is coming off the boil very quickly,’ said Hometrack’s Richard Donnell. ‘We have had a huge surge of pent-up demand coming into the market from January 2013 onwards, but we are now running out of people who want to move or can afford to move.’
Despite the recent slowdown, house prices are still up on this time last year, with Office for National Statistics figures last week showing the average home is now worth £271,000 – up 10.4 per cent year on year.
The increase was fuelled by runaway prices in London – up 17.2 per cent increase in just 12 months – while the North as a whole saw prices rise just 3.9 per cent.
But the Hometrack report shows the proportion of postcodes where growth is accelerating has fallen from around 65 per cent in the spring to just over 20 per cent now. We still need to see wage increases to help the market recover. In most areas Home Buyers have not had a wage increase for some 5 years. The cost of living has gone up in that period, causing would be buyers to tighten their belts rather than splash out. Hopefully we will see renewed vigor next year.
At Reid Estates we wish you a Merry Christmas and will do all we can to make the New Year a happy and prosperous one for you.