House prices
Jul 01,2010
U.K. house prices rose less than expected in June as the supply of property coming to the market increased amid the abolition of the Home Information Packs, while demand remained broadly stable.
The price of a typical U.K. property increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% month-on-month in June, following a 0.5% rise in May, according to data released by the Nationwide Building Society on Wednesday. Economists were expecting the growth rate to slow to 0.3%.
Average house prices in June stood at GBP 170,111. The year-on-year growth in house prices eased to 8.7% from 9.8% in May. The expected increase for June was 9%. The building society forecasts the annual rate to continue to drift lower, in light of the very strong price increases recorded during the summer of 2009.
House prices will struggle to make significant gains over the months ahead and may very well be only flat overall through the rest of the year, said Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight. The economist noted that housing market activity is relatively low and the economic fundamentals are not exactly ideal for the housing market.
Further, a major fiscal squeeze is now starting, and house price/earnings ratios have moved back up overall from their early-2009 lows and are above their long-term averages, said IHS Global Insight's Archer. If household confidence suffers from widespread significant doubts about the stability and longevity of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition governments, this could impact negatively on the housing market, the economist added.
"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," said Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist.
www.investalist.co.uk
The price of a typical U.K. property increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% month-on-month in June, following a 0.5% rise in May, according to data released by the Nationwide Building Society on Wednesday. Economists were expecting the growth rate to slow to 0.3%.
Average house prices in June stood at GBP 170,111. The year-on-year growth in house prices eased to 8.7% from 9.8% in May. The expected increase for June was 9%. The building society forecasts the annual rate to continue to drift lower, in light of the very strong price increases recorded during the summer of 2009.
House prices will struggle to make significant gains over the months ahead and may very well be only flat overall through the rest of the year, said Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight. The economist noted that housing market activity is relatively low and the economic fundamentals are not exactly ideal for the housing market.
Further, a major fiscal squeeze is now starting, and house price/earnings ratios have moved back up overall from their early-2009 lows and are above their long-term averages, said IHS Global Insight's Archer. If household confidence suffers from widespread significant doubts about the stability and longevity of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition governments, this could impact negatively on the housing market, the economist added.
"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," said Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist.
www.investalist.co.uk