UK House Prices Rise 0.2% in November – Hometrack - UKCIG Property

Hometrack – leading British housing intelligence business – has just published its house price report for November, which suggests that the value of property in England and Wales saw further increases in November, marking the 4th consecutive month of house price rises in the UK.

Hometrack’s report revealed that in November 2009 an average house in Wales and England saw a 0.2% increase in value, and thus, was priced at £156,700. The group, however, noted – just like other housing experts did earlier – that the price rises are mostly due to increased consumer demand, which, by the way, started to falter on the threshold of Christmas.

The statement of Hometrack was supported by the data provided by UK estate agents that reported only a 0.1% increase in the number of new house buyers entering the British property market. They also claimed that the proportion is set to decline further in December.

According to Mr. Richard Donnell, Hometrack director of research, it has always been clear that house prices rises, registered over the year of 2009, were driven byconsumer demand rather than by market recovery; however, he claims that there is substantial evidence that the upward trend in house prices will end in the coming months. To support his position, Mr. Donnell highlighted thathouse price increases were not common across the United Kingdom as a whole. Instead, house price rises seemed to be regional, as large parts of the country saw either further price falls or no changes at all.

Hometrack’s research revealed that the proportion of UK regions with increases in house prices did not even reach 20%. Areas with most significanthouse price rises were London (0.4%) and the South West (0.3%), while other regions enjoyed either a 0.1% rise, or no change.

UKCIG Investment News, November 2009