House prices 'drop 1.9% in March'

mattheman · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:42

UK house prices fell by 1.9% in March compared with the previous month, according to the Halifax.

The lender - now part of Lloyds Banking Group - said that conditions in the housing market would remain tough for the rest of the year.

The average UK home now costs £157,226, at least £30,000 less than a year ago.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7980813.stm

Cosimo · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:45

I can’t say I’m surprised, the downward trend will continue.

a1ex2001 · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:47

or on Wednesday they went up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7977683.stm
difficult to read the situation acurately at the minute, I'm sure they are still falling but it seem like the falls are having a little wobble.

Nathan · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:50

a1ex2001 said:
or on Wednesday they went up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7977683.stm
difficult to read the situation acurately at the minute, I'm sure they are still falling but it seem like the falls are having a little wobble.

exactly, personally I think they will drop a tiny bit more then start rising when inflation creeps up.

Its all very much up and down atm. I would go with nationwides figure too. They are they main player in the mortgage game.

Duff-Man · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:50

a1ex2001 said:
or on Wednesday they went up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7977683.stm
difficult to read the situation acurately at the minute, I'm sure they are still falling but it seem like the falls are having a little wobble.

Two separate measures. The Halifax one tends to be a little more stable. The Nationwide data is always a little more noisy.

As far as the price drops are concerned, it seems that the rate of decline has stabilised somewhat (ie no more acceleration of price drops), which is the first step needed for a recovery.

Personally, I'm hoping for at least another 10% drop in overall prices before the end of the year, as I'll be in a position to think about buying early next year. Prices around here have not dropped nearly so much as the national average though, and in a lot of places I would consider the house prices are more or less flat

Nathan · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:52

Duff-Man said:
Two separate measures. The Halifax one tends to be a little more stable. The Nationwide data is always a little more noisy.

As far as the price drops are concerned, it seems that the rate of decline has stabilised somewhat (ie no more acceleration of price drops), which is the first step needed for a recovery.

Personally, I'm hoping for at least another 10% drop in overall prices before the end of the year, as I'll be in a position to think about buying early next year. Prices around here have not dropped nearly so much as the national average though, and in a lot of places I would consider the house prices are more or less flat

Same in Shropshire too. Telford is the only area where prices have fell circa the national average. The nicer areas have only fell by around 10%

HEADRAT · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:52

Don't really care, I live in my house so I can't sell it

mattheman · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:55

statistically the drops will always be larger 1march verses 2march.

Cosimo · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:56

Nathan said:
I would go with nationwides figure too. They are they main player in the mortgage game.

Are they the main player?

SlyReaper · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:57

Nathan said:
I would go with nationwides figure too. They are they main player in the mortgage game.

Funny, I always thought Halifax had the largest mortgage portfolio. :confused:

Duff-Man · 3 Apr 2009 at 11:59

simulatorman said:
Are they the main player?

Whether or not they are the 'main player' is irrelevant. Both indexes are working with more or less the same data, it's just that they use two different statistical measures to come up with a month-by-month measure. The nationwide measure is more prone to capturing short term trends.

Look back at November - there was a 'bump' in the nationwide index there as well, which was corrected by the December results.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7980813.stm

mattheman · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:02

april/may will see a drop in nationwides house price drops.

Nathan · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:07

Aye, and Lloyds will show a rise - just they did in February. Its good news, its backed up further by a survey carried out by the Bank of England on credit conditions released yesterday and it found that banks expect to increase lending to individuals and businesses over the next three months. All good news for home owners!

cheets64 · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:09

We wont see levels like the pass few years for at least 5 years+, houses prices were pushed up from access to 100% mortgages and easy remortgage terms, gone are the days of a estate agent pushing up house prices because the owner has a Ranger Rover Sport and a needs a big sale.

mattheman · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:16

Nathan said:
Aye, and Lloyds will show a rise - just they did in February. Its good news, its backed up further by a survey carried out by the Bank of England on credit conditions released yesterday and it found that banks expect to increase lending to individuals and businesses over the next three months. All good news for home owners!

why is it good news? explain? high prices means the next property normally a bigger one will cost you more.

a1ex2001 · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:19

Duff-Man said:
Prices around here have not dropped nearly so much as the national average though, and in a lot of places I would consider the house prices are more or less flat

Thats the trouble nice houses in nice areas never fall as much as you want if at all, have a look at the map of house price falls during the last big crash in th 80's and you'll see that an awful lot of areas stayed pretty static even though big falls in the average were being reported.

Duff-Man · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:26

a1ex2001 said:
Thats the trouble nice houses in nice areas never fall as much as you want if at all, have a look at the map of house price falls during the last big crash in th 80's and you'll see that an awful lot of areas stayed pretty static even though big falls in the average were being reported.

Heh - the trouble is I'm not looking at particularly 'nice' houses or areas. I'm looking to spend around £100 - £120k on a semi detached house, and in most places around here the drop for such houses has been in the region of 0 - 5%. Flats have dropped a little more admittedly.

mame · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:26

as expected. It is only the beginning

nydryl · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:29

mattheman said:
why is it good news? explain? high prices means the next property normally a bigger one will cost you more.

Why is it a bad news? Explain? Low house prices mean the sale price of your current property will be less, and a bigger house will still cost you more than a smaller one. See what I did there? I turned your argument on its head.

Can I politely enquire what your current housing and job situation are?

Duff-Man · 3 Apr 2009 at 12:36

Guys, seriously. Whether house price drops are a good or a bad thing depends entirely on circumsatnces.

If you have several properties and are using them as a long-term investment, or are looking to renovate properties for profit, then high prices are good.

If you're a first-time buyer (like me) then low prices are good (so long as you can get a mortgage).

If you're a homeowner looking to upgrade, it really depends more on local factors and individual circumstances (such as how quickly you need to sell). However, the higher the prices the larger you can expect the difference to be between your current house and your next house.