House price rises slow in December
The pace of house price increases slowed at the end of 2009, according to the latest figures released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The trade body found that 30 per cent more surveyors saw prices rise than fall during December, although the positive balance was lower than in either October or November.
New buyer enquiries rose at the slowest rate since January 2009, while estate agents sold 1.5 homes a week on average.
A RICS spokesperson said the the recent loss of momentum in prices and the moderation in new buyer interest was in part attributed to the housing market pulling down its shutters for Christmas.
He added: ‘It is likely that the new year will see more interest and activity in the market as those who held back start to market their property with renewed optimism.
He said a lack of properties for sale was continuing to support house prices as new enquiries continued to outpace new instructions, pushing house prices higher.
Last week mortgage lender the Halifax reported prices rose 1 per cent during December, which was down slightly on the average increase over the previous five months. It put the average price of a UK home at £169,042, up 1.1 per cent on the previous year.
Communities and Local Government department figures for November, which have been published today, but the rise at 1.7 per cent for the month, and 0.6 per cent for the year.
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Readers' comments (3)
AC Preston | 12/01/2010 10:05 am
Having just bought a property myself last month, I can safely say that estate agents would sell a lot more than 1.5 homes a week if they tried giving prospective buyers the information they need rather than putting barriers in the way and generally being incompetant. If buying and selling was made easier and there was a move away from using agencies then maybe there would be a more free flowing market.
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ProMan | 12/01/2010 10:34 am
AC - just curious, what information did they not provide? I am purchasing myself at the moment and agree there must be a better way than using agents, I sold my property using an online market place, no fee and got 5% more than the local agents quoted...
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AC Preston | 12/01/2010 4:34 pm
It was usually quite minor thing like requests for information from sellers about boundaries, guarantees, etc.
If i went to curry's to buy a £300 TV the staff there would run around like blue arsed flies to make sure they got the sale but when it comes to spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a house that I could've walked away from at any time, they just couldn't be bothered
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