NEWS
UK house prices slipped back last month says the Nationwide
04-10-2012
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The fall comes after a 1.1% rise in August and the lender said that monthly price changes have been impacted by a number of one off factors this year, such as the ending of the stamp duty holiday that cannot be controlled by the usual process of seasonal adjustment.
‘For this reason the annual rate of house price change is a better guide to the state of the market at present. On that basis, the housing market remains fairly stable, with prices 1.4% lower than September 2011,’ said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist.
The lender is fairly upbeat about the outlook for the residential property market. ‘Looking forward, policy measures such as the Bank of England's Funding for Lending Scheme should provide support for activity in the housing market by ensuring the availability of credit and lowering its cost,’ explained Gardner.
‘There are encouraging signs that the UK will soon return to modest growth. The Olympics are likely to have delivered a boost that will almost certainly bring the recession to an end in the third quarter and business surveys point to a gradual expansion in business activity ahead,’ he pointed out.
‘Moreover, signs that European policymakers are prepared to take more aggressive measures to deal with the crisis in the single currency area is also good news for UK prospects. After all, the UK remains heavily reliant on international trade to drive its recovery at present, and the Eurozone is our largest trade partner,’ he said.
‘Overall, we expect the UK economy to see a gradual recovery over the next twelve months, with house prices remaining relatively flat or declining only modestly over the same period,’ he added.
Meanwhile the lender’s quarterly index covering the last three months shows that 10 out of 13 UK regions saw annual price falls in the third quarter but London doing better with prices only 2% below their peak but Northern Ireland continues to see the largest price falls.
