6
Mar
'Dip' in February prices
Property prices dipped in February, but the market is beginning to
stabilise, according to figures released by Halifax on its House
Price Index.
House prices dropped by 0.3 per cent during the month, while the
average home was likely to set buyers back about £196,649 on
average, the bank stated.
Due to "sound fundamentals" the market may well stay flat in the
coming year, it added, with favourable factors including lower
interest rates.
Chief UK & European economist at Global Insight Howard Archer
stated that there are still pressures being felt on the housing
industry, such as "tighter lending practices".
"Overall, the data suggest that house prices are continuing to cool
... but they are not plunging through the floor," he
remarked.
The Bank of England will cut the base rate of interest twice in the
remainder of 2008, Halifax added.
UK house price growth is the sixth-biggest on the European stage, a
report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has
stated.