All house prices articles – Page 3
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Comment
Was it just the cold or is it a relapse?
There are plenty of people, “experts” indeed, who fully expect a double-dip recession for both the economy and, for that matter, house prices.For them the data emerging for January’s performance appears to be, albeit gently, vindicating their position. They will no doubt seize with alacrity the retail figures from the ...
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Bulls in the housing futures market turn sheepish
There has been a sharp change of mood among the traders of housing futures who punt large sums on the level of house prices at given years ahead.Traders had turned bullish last autumn and even at the end of the year the Tradition Future HPI was showing a projected ...
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God damn it, don’t you just feel richer...
When I see the house price indexes rising I can’t stop myself. I have to do a sum that estimates how much richer we are as a nation.Here’s how I do it. I head straight for the Blue Book (a set of the nation’s annual accounts, if you like) and ...
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Are UK houses really worth 6% more than a year ago?
The final Halifax index for 2009 has been released and it settles on a December 2009 average house price 5.6% above that of December 2008.This is roughly in line with the figures from Nationwide which show a 5.9% rise.It is easy from this to draw the conclusion that on average ...
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Pundits on balance point to flat house prices in 2010
It's the time of the year for reflections, resolutions and prognostications. And what can be more fun than guessing the likely path of house prices?Well I can think of a few things. And I'm also left wondering why anyone would wish to state a house price forecast publicly and put ...
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Comment
Housing recovery is resting on happier family homes market
The latest swathe of housing data continues to suggest a pick up both in prices and activity and the RICS November house price survey, released today, adds further weight to the case for a housing recovery.Its measures for sales, expected sales, new inquiries, new instructions, prices and expected prices are ...
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Comment
The cruelty of breeding force-fed first-time buyers
Here's a question that goes right to the heart of current housing policy: Should we be using incentives as readily as we are to encourage first-time buyers onto the property ladder?However iconoclastic or contrary this question may seem, it needs to be asked. There is so much at stake.Promoting first-time ...
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Comment
New Year stamp duty switchback will have little impact, says RICS
For those interested in what will happen when the stamp duty holiday comes to an end on December 31, the surveyors' body RICS has done a little bit of research among its members.Basically, the results seem to suggest that by and large the effect on property transactions will be muted ...
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Comment
Forecasters call the bottom of the house price slump
The increasing stretch of stable house prices is leading forecasters to call the bottom of the slump.The Nationwide late last month tentatively said it may be time to think the unthinkable that house prices may exit 2009 higher than they entered it.Last week much was made of the RICS saying ...
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Comment
Housing activity rises but prices set for further falls
The latest RICS housing market survey paints a more optimistic picture of the housing market, with evidence that confidence and activity continue to improve.The ‘new buyer enquiries' series (the balance of surveyors reporting an increase rather than a decrease in buyer interest) has been rising since November and, at 48 ...
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Comment
Is everyone being too positive?
Apparently, slowing negative is now the new positive. Contraction is passé. The only problem is, that the evidence doesn't appear to suggest that.Just two examples, of many recently, spring to mind.The latest Key Purchasing Managers Index for construction from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) rose from 30.9 ...
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Comment
The trouble with house prices
I read with interest recently the CEBR's predictions for the total fall in house prices and when it expects the turnaround to come and that got me thinking on the topic of house prices in general.The basic problem with house prices is, whose do you use? The ones the press ...
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