House prices could take years to recover according to Bloomberg survey

A survey from Bloomberg has suggested that property prices in the UK could take a number of years to recover back to the level that they were at back in 2007, before the credit crunch hit. Since around October of 2007 house prices have plunged in the UK, although the last few months have seen some nominal increases in property values.

However, compared to the peak of 2007 property prices in the UK are still very low, and according to the survey from Bloomberg they could continue to remain low and even fall further before things start to get any better.

The increases that have been seen over the past few months have been met with mixed opinions from various industry groups and officials. Some have seen the increases as a sign that the property market is starting to recover, whereas others have seen this as a temporary situation which cannot be sustained.

The Bloomberg study indicates that it will be at least another year before house prices even begin to stabilise, with further house price falls expected next year.

Following 2010 it is thought that house prices will start to stabilise over the next couple of years before starting to steadily increase again. This means that it could be around 2014 before house prices in the UK get back to the same value that they were at in their 2007 peak. Fourteen economists were polled as part of the Bloomberg study, and out of these nine said that they expected property prices to continue falling next year.

Officials from the Nationwide have also taken this view, with the building society stating: “We are cautious on the outlook for the housing market and believe anticipated growth in unemployment throughout next year will apply downward pressure on house prices.”

Tags: housing market, Real estate, house prices, economics, Bloomberg