House prices fell by 0.5 per cent in October
November 10, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
More evidence that the housing market is slowing down was published yesterday. 
Halifax’s monthly housing market report, published on Thursday, found that average prices fell by 0.5 per cent in October.
Although this contradicts figures published by Nationwide late last month, it is the second consecutive month in which Halifax – the country’s biggest mortgage lender – has recorded a drop.
Halifax reported that house prices fell by 0.6 per cent in September.
Nevertheless, the lender was confident about the long-term strength of the housing market and the economy.
Chief economist Martin Ellis said: “The UK economy is in a strong position. High levels of employment and a shortage in the number of properties available for sale will continue to support house prices.”
A recent study of the market by PriceWaterhouseCoopers claimed that houses in the UK are 10 per cent overpriced compared to average salaries.
Halifax’s study comes as the Bank of England held interest rates at 5.75 per cent for the fourth month in a row.
Average house price £100k+
January 19, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
House prices have continued to grow, with new research showing that every county in the UK has an average house price above £100,000.
The data, collated by Halifax, signals the first time ever that this has been the case and demonstrates a massive growth in average prices.
In 2001 there were 63 out of 101 counties with an average price below £100,000. In addition, only Surrey had an average price of £200,000 back then.
The latest survey shows that 19 counties had an average house price of at least £200,000.
Scotland and Wales saw the biggest growth in house prices, with the top ten fastest growing counties being in these regions.
“Wales, Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Northern Ireland, have dominated the UK county league table for house price growth over the past five years,” said Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax.
“Southern England, by contrast, has lagged behind. Much of the out performance by these parts of the UK has been part of a catch-up process with the greater availability of more affordable property stimulating demand and therefore allowing prices to rise more quickly.”
