Over the last month there have been many predications made about the property market, with house price indexes, economic forecasts and industry experts all telling a different story.
As a property portal, we’re in a unique position to analyse the market. November was a strong month for HotProperty.co.uk despite the general market slow down experienced in September and October.
What we are seeing on our site is that demand is still strong and house prices are not diving just yet.
The HotProperty consolidated house price index tracks the Rightmove, Financial Times, Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and Land Registry indices.
The most recent figures show that house prices righted themselves in October after a minor fall in September. The average UK house price in October was £214,511, a growth of 0.79 percent.
Although there is a lot of fear in the market about a decline in house prices, growth is actually slowing down currently, not entering into decline. We expect to see growth continue to stall over the Christmas and New Year period as the market stabilises.
While the market is definitely slowing down, the reality of the current market is that it is largely a self-perpetuating phenomena.
The more the media give credence to the imminent ‘crash’, the more this affects confidence levels. Lower confidence levels in turn have a negative impact on the market, further perpetuating the myth that a crash is nigh.
The market is simply self-correcting. Despite some doomsayers’ theories, this is to be expected after the exaggerated growth we have experienced in the last decade.