–Hometrack: UK Jan House Asking Prices Down 0.5% m/m; Down 2.2% y/y
LONDON (MNI) – UK house asking prices fell for the seventh month
in a row in January with buyer demand falling sharply, according to
Hometrack data.
Hometrack found asking prices fell 0.5% on the month in January,
having dropped 0.4% in December and 0.8% in November, to stand down 2.2%
on the year. The survey found a marked fall in the number of properties
coming on to the market, but this fall in supply was surpassed by
the fall in demand.
The Hometrack survey found a fall in supply, measured in terms of
the volume of properties listed for sale, of 5.4% on the month in
January, the largest such fall for 4 years.
Demand, measured by the number of buyers registering with property
agents, dropped 9.5% on the month.
“There are no signs of a New Year bounce for the housing market as
2011 begins with a sluggish start. The supply of new homes coming to the
market continues to fall but it is the change in demand that we need to
pay most attention to, as this will have the greatest impact on pricing
levels in the first half of 2011,” Richard Donnell, Director of Research
at Hometrack, said.
The Hometrack series has recorded a 26% fall in the number of
registerd buyers in the 6 months through January and this month’s 9.5%
decline contrasts with a fall of only 2.7% on the month last January.
The monthly house asking price surveys usually run ahead of those
based on mortgage data or actual completions. The first of the mortgage
based surveys for January will be published by Nationwide at 0700 GMT on
Tuesday, February 1.
–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491 e:mail drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$, MABDS$]
