Browsed by
Tag: housing market

Forecasters expect a fall in house prices in 2011

Forecasters expect a fall in house prices in 2011

We are beginning to see the end of year-ish reading of the runes for the housing market result in a series of forecasts for price movements in 2011. On balance the forecasts point to a drop, mainly on the back of fears over unemployment rising along with concerns among some economists about the start of rising interest rates in the year. Here is a selected list of recent forecasts listed from the more bullish to more bearish, with their last year punts…

Read More Read More

Construction firms axe jobs ahead of double-dip downturn

Construction firms axe jobs ahead of double-dip downturn

The number of jobs in the construction industry fell by 17,000 in the third quarter of this year despite the continued swell in work resulting from the now fading effects of the economic stimulus. Indeed the rather lacklustre set of labour market figures released today may well be read by some as an early sign of momentum fading in the economy at large. Certainly the drop in construction job numbers will lead many to suspect that firms are already trimming…

Read More Read More

Halifax shows continued slide in house prices…but the real market test comes in the New Year

Halifax shows continued slide in house prices…but the real market test comes in the New Year

The Halifax house price index crept down today and appears to be on a path of slow decline, which is broadly in line with most other house price indicators. And as we can see from the graph transactions remain subdued and mortgage approvals are also on a gentle downward slide. But while the current slide in the market may be unsettling, it will be the next few months that will prove particularly nail biting for those whose fortunes are pinned…

Read More Read More

Buyers and sellers abandon the housing market – that’s bad news for house building numbers

Buyers and sellers abandon the housing market – that’s bad news for house building numbers

The latest housing market survey released today by the surveyors’ body RICS paints a fascinating picture of the courting process between buyers and sellers of houses. The headline figure taken from the survey was always going to be that the majority of estate agents are now seeing house price falls. The figure for the balance of agents seeing rising prices against those seeing prices fall was -52, which was the lowest since March last year. This figure fits with the general…

Read More Read More

Why the spending review might prove a turning onto the road to Nirvana for house builders

Why the spending review might prove a turning onto the road to Nirvana for house builders

What do the cuts in the spending review mean for house builders? Who really knows? But having tried to piece together what the implications of the Chancellor’s axe wielding are for housing, house builders, housing associations and contractors who build homes, I can’t help thinking what some might regard as the unthinkable. I may be deluded or befuddled by the blur of jumbled numbers, but far from being bad news, I think there is a possibility that things might pan…

Read More Read More

What house price falls might mean for future housing construction

What house price falls might mean for future housing construction

The Halifax index out today will provide a nasty kick in the stomach for those businesses reliant on stable or rising house prices to prosper. The monthly fall of 3.6% was the biggest I could find on the historic data spreadsheet that Lloyds Banking Group provides that goes back to the start of 1983. The previous worst monthly fall was 3.0% in September 1992. And however much we are advised to look at the quarterly figure and how ever much…

Read More Read More

House building numbers more vulnerable than prices as the market turns

House building numbers more vulnerable than prices as the market turns

The latest monthly housing market survey from the surveyors’ body RICS will come as unwelcome, if expected, bad news to developers, estate agents and potential sellers. The survey shows the fastest increase in the number of agents seeing price falls since the ugly period that followed the credit crunch (see graph sourced from the RICS August survey) and the lowest reading since May 2009. Last month the survey showed the balance between agents seeing prices up and those seeing prices…

Read More Read More

A double-dip in house prices isn’t really the problem

A double-dip in house prices isn’t really the problem

The Nationwide house price survey showing a drop of 0.9% following a 0.5% drop in July adds yet more weight to the growing view that house prices are sagging and are set to sag further. The Halifax index peaked in March and fell monthly up to a minor rally in July. The Acadmetrics index has been heading south since March, although it similarly saw a gentle uplift of 0.1% in July. Hometrack went 0.1% negative in July and the drop…

Read More Read More

Nationwide joins other indexes to show house prices falling

Nationwide joins other indexes to show house prices falling

It came as little surprise that the Nationwide house price survey should show a fall in July. And it showed a pretty significant fall of 0.5% on its seasonally adjusted series. It had been for many months among the more bullish of the indexes measuring inflation in the UK housing market, at a time when others were showing the market sliding backwards. But like most of the indexes, the Nationwide has had to draw big conclusions from a rather thinner…

Read More Read More

Estate agents expect housing prices to fall

Estate agents expect housing prices to fall

The latest survey by the surveyors’ body RICS provides further evidence that the bounce back in house prices is petering out. The surveyors polled had, on balance, seen house prices rise in June, but when asked for their expectation for the three months coming the balance swayed narrowly towards a fall in house price. Not that the pattern is even across the UK, the markets in London and Scotland appear fairly buoyant. But in swathes of the north of England and in…

Read More Read More