Housing Market Recovery Slows Down Significantly
Written on July 7, 2010 – 8:11 am | by admin
Landlords thinking of expanding their property portfolios may well be interested in Bank of England findings that house prices and mortgage approvals dropped in May.
The amount of mortgage approvals last month was 49,815, some way off the 51,000 which had been predicted by leading analysts. This figure is also far below the 60,000 which was recorded in November 2009.
According to official figures released by the Land Registry, house prices fell by 2% from April to May of 2010. However, the green shoots of recovery are still well in place, as prices remain 8.2% above those recorded last year. Residents of London will welcome news that prices in the capital are up 14.2% since last year.
Martin Gahbauer, Chief Economist at Nationwide, said, ‘barring a significant pick-up in house prices over the next few months, the annual rate of inflation should continue to drift lower, in light of the very strong price increases recorded during the summer of 2009′.
Since the government decided to abolish the Home Information Packs, which many commentators considered a costly time waster, many new properties have emerged on the market and prices have dropped.
‘Recent indicators point to an increase in the supply of property coming to the market for sale, perhaps in response to the abolition of HIPs in the opening days of the new coalition government. With the level of demand remaining broadly stable, this would in part help to explain the recent slowdown observed in the rate of house price inflation’, Mr Gahbauer continued.
Statistics reveal that the increase in stock currently coming onto the market is not being met with a rise in demand from prospective purchasers. Price increases are slowing as the previously unequal relationship between supply and demand is becoming more balanced.
David Smith, partner at the Carter Jonas estate agents, said, ‘there have certainly been more properties coming onto the market in recent weeks, and although on the one hand this is positive news for a market that has been bereft of stock, at the same time there hasn’t been any noticeable uplift in buyer demand, resulting in an inevitable slow down in house price growth’.
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