House Prices

That would produce an eventual price drop of 25% from the peak recorded in the summer of 2007 - the biggest ever. The annual forecast from Rics suggests that property sales may have bottomed out and could rise by 10% during 2009. But Rics says the government must take action to restore the flow of mortgage funds [...]

House prices in the UK fell by their biggest amount in 25 years over the last 12 months - and economists predict that they have much further to fall. Halifax, Britain's biggest lender, said that prices dropped 2.6% in November and 16.1% over the last 12 months, to leave the average price of a house falling just over £30,000 to £163,605. This is worse than the early 1990s, when the country was la

The UK’s largest building society said in its latest report that it expected prices to continue to fall throughout 2009. Nationwide Building Society predicted that prices would continue to fall by an average of 1 - 1.5 percent per month until at least the beginning of 2010. For the past year, UK property prices have dropped 14.6 percent according to the society’s numbers, with the avera

Readers Question: Why Can't Government Stop House Prices Falling?House Prices have fallen 15% and are set to fall by perhaps another 15%. Can the government do anything to stop the fall in house prices? And does it matter anyway?Firstly house prices are causing problemsNegative wealth effect of falling house prices and lower confidence means people are spending less; this is contributing to the re

Economic forecasting agency, Capital Economics, are predicting that house prices will fall 35% by next autumn, from their peak of last summer. Previously, the organisation had forecasted that prices would fall 35% by 2010, but in the wake of the economic downturn, the fall will be much quicker. Prices are then predicted to remain unchanged for 18 [...] More: Capital Economics predict 35% fall in

It's official the IMF, released a report showing house prices are declining all over the world and Australia is no exception. Fortunately for the Aussies, the decline has been much less severe than other parts of the world. In the US, home price have declined more than 30% from their peak and even more in certain states. 2009 will probably see more declines as well. One positive from this for ho

House prices are poised to fall almost a third from their peak last year to reach values last seen in 2003,a leading estate agent said yesterday, writes Daniel...

It's confirmed. The United States of America has suffered the largest home price decline in the western world over the last two years. The Economist provided a house price index which compared America's 15% house price drops (based on the S&P/Case-Shiller national index) to a number of other developed countries. This goes a long way to explaining the recent financial collapse and government ta

Despite early signs of a turn in the housing market, prices still have a long way to fall. In fact, we’re probably only halfway there. There’s no perfect valuation metric for houses, but two measures–price-to-rent and price-to-income–are the best we know of. Asha Bangalore of Northern Trust provides recent charts of both, and a quick glance [...]

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — U.K. house prices posted the biggest annual decline since at least 2002 as banks choked off mortgage lending, deepening London’s property slump, Rightmove Plc said. The average asking price for a home fell 4.8 percent in August from a year earlier to 229,816 pounds ($426,929), the biggest [...]

The numbers for May are in and I just shake my head at them because frankly, I just don't see this in my area. Home prices tumbled by the steepest rate ever in May, according to a closely watched housing index released Tuesday, as the housing slump deepened nationwide. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index dropped by 15.8 percent in May compared with a year ago, a record decline

With house prices falling in the US and UK (and predicted to fall in other Developed countries) an important question is - Are falling house prices good or bad?Reasons to Be Worried about Falling House Prices1) Lower consumer spendingIn the past, UK and US consumers have used rising equity values as a way to finance higher consumer spending. Consumers have been able to remortgage their house and s

House prices in Spain will fall up to 30% in real terms within three years and the property sector faces at least two years of recession, said the head of one of Spain’s biggest real estate firms, Colonial, on Tuesday. “I see very few short-term solutions in the property business,” Mariano de Miguel told a business [...]

Lower Mainland house hunters are now in a buyers market with prices that have eased slightly off of earlier-year highs in many markets, according to the latest report from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. The region saw 2,425 sales registered through the Multiple Listing Service in June, the board reported, a 43-per-cent decline from the same month a year ago. At the same time, owners l

The credit crunch is still showing no signs of abating. The financial events that begun last year in the US have shocked the world at the sheer speed and size of economic change. Many people are now feeling much more vulnerable and exposed than they did 12 months ago.Corporate and retail expectations have turned sour and a continuing stream of depressing news is reported in the media which adds to

Source: Economist US house prices continue to drop like the proverbial brick. One of the most respected house price indexes - S&P/Case-Shiller national index reported house prices fell by 14.1% in the 12 months to April 2008.Why are House Prices falling faster than in Great Depression?Bubble and Bust: Prior to the Great Depression there wasn't really a housing bubble; the housing market was

Who gives a fuck says nobody in particularMeanwhile in planet reality world faces global environmental meltdownBillions live below the breadlineUSA fucks up the planet once and for allNuclear holocaust beckonsand we are worried about the price of fucking houses?Oh fuck off daily mail reader!

It is extraordinary how the Dubai real estate boom has spiraled ever upwards over the past few months despite high home loan rates. Price increases have been among the highest since the launch of freehold ownership in 2002. The UAE Central Bank has followed the US Federal Reserve in cutting its base rate to two per [...]

By: Roshawn WatsonRecently, the Economist featured an article about how America home prices are falling more quickly now than during The Great Depression. The current S&P/Case-Shiller national house-price index slump was reported as 14.1% whereas in 1932, the (adjusted) index reflected a 10.5% drop. Notwithstanding the fact that the Case-Schiller index is considered flawed (by some) and may ha

Yesterday, Hometrack announced that year on year, annual house prices in the UK had started to fall. There are many short term factors which are bringing house prices down. Sharp fall in mortgage lending. The credit crisis means the banks are struggling to raise money to finance new mortgages. Because there is a shortage of finance they are cutting back on the number of mortgages. The number of

U.K. house prices posted their first annual decline in more than two years in April as economic uncertainty and the global credit crisis further reduced activity in the residential property market, housing valuation company Hometrack said Monday.House prices fell an average 0.6% in April, the seventh consecutive monthly fall, after dipping 0.2% in March, it said. On the year, prices fell 0.9% after rising 0.4% in March, the first drop since February 2006 and the weakest performance since they slumped 1.0% in January 2006."While the availability of finance is impacting on demand in certain segments, the reality is that weak confidence is effectively resulting in a buyers strike with households sitting on the sidelines and waiting to see how events unfold," Hometrack Director of Research Ric

Business Times - 24 Apr 2008 House prices may fall more than during 1930s: economist (NEW HAVEN, Connecticut) An influential economist who long predicted the housing market bubble cautioned on Tuesday that the slump in the US housing market could cause prices to fall more than they did in the Great Depression, and bailouts will be needed so millions don't lose their homes.Yale University economist Robert Shiller, pioneer of the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case- Shiller home price index, said there's a good chance housing prices will fall further than the 30 per cent drop in the historic depression of the 1930s. US home prices have dropped 15 per cent already since their peak in 2006, he said.'I think there is a scenario that they could be down substantially more,' he said during a spe

Moneycorp the foreign currency specialists report that house prices influenced Sterling yet again. This time is was the Halifax reporting a 2.5 per cent fall between February and March. Like the Nationwide two week ago, HBOS referred to the massive rise in house prices over the last ten years; 171 per cent they reckon. Also in common with Nationwide, HBOS omitted to expand on that observation. They could have been pointing out that the "modest (low single digit)" decline they expect this year will be a mere gnat-bite on the gains made previously. Or they could have been drawing attention to a price bubble. We were left to guess.

According to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office, all these proposed bailout plans would reduce the number of foreclosures but won’t do much to prevent home prices declines to continue. Read the whole report here. The housing markets and financial markets are both in the midst of severe adjustments. House prices are falling rapidly, [...]

The US Treasury Secretary gave warning today that there is more pain ahead in the American housing market after he said prices must be allowed to drop before the economy can stabilise.It emerged yesterday that house prices in 20 US cities had declined by 10.7 per cent in the 12 months to January — the worst fall in more than 20 years.

With ever more stories about global financial meltdown hitting the papers, property buyers and sellers in the UK can be forgiven for getting a little nervous. Do you sell? Do you buy? Will you even get a mortgage? But the one question you’ll be asking is ‘what about house prices in my street‘: the rest [...]

Buy-to-let investors, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), are not making it difficult for first-time buyers to enter the market. The regulatory body has said that... Read more at

The high end property market of London, the driving force behind the city’s continually rising real estate prices, has begun to falter as prices suffered the first quarterly decline since 2003. According to news in several media, including the Times Online, the price of prime property fell by 2% over the last quarter of 2007. This information comes from several real estate agents including Savills. Prime property is that valued at more than £1 million.

UK house prices fell for the third consecutive month in November according to data released by Halifax. According to the UK’s largest mortgage lender, home prices fell by 1.1% for the month, following declines of .5% in October and .6% in September. The rate of housing price increases for the full year had fallen to 6.3% through November. That’s down from a high of 11.4% in August and 8.9% in October. The housing news has been highlighted in major media outlets recently, including the BBC and The Guardian.

Another report on the state of housing today.Housing markets from Punta Gorda, Florida, to Stockton, California, will crash and suffer price drops of more than 30 percent before the housing crisis is over, a report from Moody's Economy.com said on Thursday.On a national level, the housing market recession will continue through early 2009, said the report, co-authored by Mark Zandi, chief economist, and Celia Chen, director of housing economics.The report paints a worsening picture of the hard-hit housing sector, which is in the midst of its worst downturn since World War II.While activity will stabilize in 2009, it will not be until 2010 before a measurable improvement in sales, construction and pricing will emerge, the report said.House prices are forecast to fall 13 percent from their peak through early 2009. After accounting for incentives home sellers are offering buyers, effective declines peak-to-trough will total well over 15 percent, the report said.Punta Gorda, Florida, and S

I found this blog entry on Calculated Risk. If you did not see it, it brilliantly and concisely demonstrates the problems facing the market in the foreseeable future. From Calculated Risk: In the ’90s, as prices fell in California, foreclosure activity (using Notice of Defaults NODs) increased. Prices bottomed in 1996, as foreclosure activity peaked. Now imagine what will happen over the next few years as house prices fall. Foreclosure activity is already at record levels (2007 estimated on graph). Yet, as prices fall, foreclosure activity will probably continue to increase - the activity will be literally off the chart! It is pretty difficult to but a bullish spin on that one. . . Median Sale Price Sales Volume ZIP code Prev. 4 weeks change from ‘06 Prev. 4 weeks change from ’06 92602 $705,000 -15.8% 12 -63.6% 92603 $1,147,500 5.5% 16 -57.9% 92604 $580,000 -6.1% 20 17.6% 92606 $867,500 15.3% 13 -51.9%

HOUSE PRICES WEAKEN FURTHER IN MOST RECENT QUARTER First Quarterly Price Decline for U.S. since 1994 Washington , DC – For the first time in nearly thirteen years, U.S. home prices experienced a quarterly decline. The OFHEO House Price Index (HPI), which is based on data from sales and refinance transactions, was 0.4 percent lower in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2007. This is similar to the quarterly decline of 0.3 percent (seasonally-adjusted) shown in the purchase-only index. The annual price change, comparing the third quarter of 2007 to the same period last year showed an increase of 1.8 percent , the lowest four-quarter increase since 1995. OFHEO’s purchase-only index, which is based solely on purchase price data, indicates the same rate of appreciation over the last year. The figures were released today by OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart, as part of the quarterly repor

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) claims that the housing market slow-down is becoming more apparent.The RICS UK housing market survey published in November suggests that prices in October fell for the third month consecutively. This is the fastest pace since July of 2005. Most of the surveyed areas have indicated a slow-down since the summer and London seems to be the only exception. This is yet the clearest sign of the widely forecasted house market slow-down so far and the recent troubles in the financial sector seems to be a big influence. A combination of high prices and increased interest rates have finally reined in the housing market, with the unaffordability of homes, relative to average incomes, having risen to record levels. Enquiries from new buyers also fell, for the 11th month in a row, as other factors came into play.

Reports Suggest Broader Losses From MortgagesNYT - 10/25/07 snips:Every time economists and Wall Street executives think they have acknowledged the full extent of the losses from the meltdown in real estate mortgages, more bad news turns up... The loss in total real estate wealth is expected to range from $2 trillion to $4 trillion, depending on how far home prices fall, according to several economists... Experts caution that these estimates are preliminary and the total costs could get bigger still. They also note that the loss of real estate wealth could prove more damaging for the general public than falling stock values because more American families own homes than own stock... Of course, many people who bought their houses several years ago are still ahead financially... Those who bought close to the peak stand to lose the most if they have to sell in the near future... In a new report to be issued today, the Joint Economic Committee of Congress predicts about 2 million foreclosur

House prices in the UK could tumble, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They predict that the fall in property values could be as savage as those occurring in the USA. One major house building company in the USA has seen half its house sales cancelled as buyers flee the market, or are [...]

According to the Nationwide Building Society, the recent financial concerns (especially the Northern Rock problems) have not affected the UK housing market in September and the prices are still rising in the month. As expectedly, though, the sub-prime (or riskier) mortgages have become more constantly to the borrower. The prices rose by 0.7% in September but more importantly the house price inflation has slowed down to 9% from 9.6%. This is almost the lowest level over the last 12 months. The Building Society suggests that this slow down is mainly due to the base interest rate increases by the Bank of England. Different surveys from different sources indicate conflicting conclusions, though. For example, Halifax claim that the house prices are still on the increase whereas other sources, such as, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors are now more certain that the long awaited slowdown in house prices has already started this summer. Slowing property demand Earlier this week, Ba

Canada House prices have shown signs of a continued strength despite worries across the border in the United States. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has predicted record numbers of sales for 2007 and increasing prices for existing houses. With the rising prices, many people are looking to invest in property, either to build now or for future use. The Canadian financial newspaper The Financial Post indicated in a recent article that home prices in the 25 largest markets reached an average price of just over $332,000 CND. With prices rising so much across the country, new construction is at all time highs and many are looking to invest in undeveloped property. The city of Saskatoon, in the western province of Saskatchewan, for example, is offering a five-year tax break on new condominium construction to help speed new units.

London house prices fell the most since 2004 this month after five interest rate increases in a year and turmoil in financial markets sapped buyers' confidence, according to a Rightmove Plc report. The average asking price for a home in the U.K. capital declined 2.5 percent from August to 384,439 pounds ($774,000), according to Britain's biggest real-estate Web site. The reading is taken from a survey conducted from Aug. 12 to Sept. 8. For the U.K. as a whole, prices fell 2.6 percent, Rightmove said. Growth in London property values is faltering after the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market triggered losses in securities linked to the loans and spurred banks to raise lending rates. The turmoil is piling pressure on consumers, already finding it costlier to pay loans after the Bank of England raised its key rate to a six-year high in July.

The Royal Institution of Surveyors (RICS) is predicting that house prices will be flat in 2008 and there is a ten percent chance of them suffering a 1990’s style crash. It is the effect of recent interest rates rises that will subdue the property market, rather than the recent turmoil in the banking industry, according [...]

According to a new study published today by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the house prices fell last month for the first time in more than 2.5 years as the recent rate rises have cooled down people’s appetite for property. House price growth turned negative since October 2005 said RICS. The demand for property is continuing to weaken as rising interest rates further hit affordability levels, the report added. Overall 1.8 per cent more chartered surveyors saw a fall in prices during August than those who saw a rise, down from 10.8 per cent more who reported a rise in July.

The growth in the median house price declined relatively sharply to 5.7% year to year in August from 10.4% year to year in July, signally a levelling off in house price growth.This means that, even though with all the other financial factors in place, house prices continue to climb, albeit very slowly, this could change quite simple when and if any further tightening of monetary policy at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting in October, which is seen by many as a strong possibility, will change the financial environment and thus the outlook for the housing market going forward.C'mon TITO help us out here man.Well this can mean its time to buy your dream house as the prices are more realistic.Seriously, we think the inflationary control measures are fine and we can see that we are at the peak of interest rate hikes and should within the next 12 months see the downward trend come into place.This together with decent prices could really spark some interesting property times.TITO, t

Much as I has suspected from the number of houses that are proving difficult to sell in my area, house price growth is slowing down across the country. The Nationwide, in its latest press release about the property market, points out that annual growth in house prices is slowing. The annual rate of growth fell to [...]

The median house price in the United States is expected to fall for the first time this year since the government began tracking prices in 1950. An article in the New York Times says that the decline will be modest, from 1-2% and may even continue into 2008 and 2009.

The average price for a UK home continued to rise in July, according to the latest price survey from Halifax bank, as reported by the BBC. House prices went up by.7% across the UK in July. While prices are still increasing, this is the fourth consecutive month to see an increase lower than 1%.

Housing prices across the UK continue to show gains, with London topping the list. According to a research report just reported in financial website This is Money (www.thisismoney.co.uk), prices in London are up over 15% for the past year. Prices in the South-West have risen over 10%, while the South-East lags behind but still show significant gains at 8.6% rise in prices for the year

House prices in Chelmsford, the main town in my area, seem to be static at the moment and I’ve noticed that a lot of houses that have been been on Right Move for at least three months, are still unsold. Some houses in Chelmsford that had sold are now back on the market again. So [...]

There are two interesting news items about UK house prices today: House prices have continued to rise on the one hand and first time buyers are fleeing the market on the other. Conflicting news, it seems, however I think what we are seeing is what happened to house prices over the last year before the latest [...]

     Many of you will have seen today that the National Housing Federation (NHF) expects house prices to rise 40% by 2012, with the average House price then breaching £300,000. With compounding, this means an average increase of roughly 8% per year. This is in line with the long-term average, which Halifax says is 8% since 1983. Is the Market Going Up or will it Crash!’ All predictions should be taken on face value and you should always take head of who has commissioned and written the article.  The NHF has a vested interest and this could be why we have an upbeat report. Most experts seem to think price rises will slow with the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) estimating that house prices will go up by just 7% in 2007 and only 2-3% in 2008. Halifax recently revised up its prediction for this year from 4% to 6%. However, this is still lower than the average needed to hit NHF’s prediction. Is the Market Going to Crash! The truth is no-one knows take for examp

England house prices are predicted to show a startling rise of 40 per cent within five years hitting a national average of more than £300,000. The prediction comes from the National Housing Federation,(NHF) which says the rise will come despite Government promises to massively step up house building.

Rightmove Overseas has said it has received 251,824 French property searches last month alone with popular provinces including Brittany, Normandy and Languedoc-Roussillon.In addition, the south of France is emerging as the most popular region with investors and holidaymakers seeking a traditionally French way of life and hot temperatures.

Home rentals in Noida are rising as residential plots in the city gets expensive by 76% in all sectors. The move by the state government has created the same situation what it has been in Delhi in the eighties. Now, home owners in Noida are left with two options, either to increase rentals or sell off houses in upscale sectors. Both the options are indicative of high moolah for owners. Taking a walk back in time, DELHI residents when in a similar situation, sold off their premium houses and invested in Noida residential property. Following in footsteps, homeowners in Noida plan to sell off their houses in a bid to earn handsome money and relocate to remote sectors. However, the decision has crippled already suffering tenants who want landlords to review their decisions. “My landlord has been increasing the rentals for the past three months and now he wants to increase it more in wake of hiked land rate,” says Pushpanjali Kapoor, a tenant in sector 26, Noida. Contrary to this, land

According to a report from a government think tank, house prices may be 10 times average salaries by 2025. It's all down to supply and demand apparently. Sure, looking at the figures in a simplistic fashion, with an increasing population and inadequate house building then house prices should continue to increase. But think about it a little longer and it clearly doesn't make any sense. Who will be buying these houses? First time buyers are already priced out of the market. Buy to letters might take up the slack but only if rents rise in line with house prices, otherwise they'd be better off investing their money elsewhere. So will rents rise as well? Given that a lot of our increase in population is driven by economic migrants, who generally are in pretty poorly paid jobs and renting, if rents rise dramatically, will they continue to come here? Probably not, since they'll be better off staying at home. So demand won't increase, meaning prices fall back to a more sensible level. Th

The annual rate of house price growth nudged lower for the second successive month to 10.6% from a peak of 11.1% in March.

House prices in London were up 13.9 per cent in the 12 months since March 2006, the largest growth of England's regions. That is according to new figures from the Communities and Local Government (CLG) out today. This is three percentage points above the UK average of 10.9 per cent. The survey finds the average house price in London in March was £316,308

South Africa is witnessing a slowdown in current house prices largely due to higher interest rates and rising debt. The prices continued to slow down through April 2007

After several years of rapid growth in US House Prices. The US housing market has taken a sharp reverse in fortunes. The number of new houses being built has fallen considerably and in many states of the US house prices are now falling. There are concerns that this fall in house prices will leave the US consumers with negative equity and therefore could cause a fall in Consumer spending. In recent years it has been consumer spending that has been the main determinant of US economic growth. It has also played a key role in global economic growth. However although falling house prices will cause a significant reduction in US consumer spending the effects on the global economy are less than they may have been a decade or so ago. Emerging markets like India and China are seeing a developing middle class with an apetite for luxury goods. Thus if the US was to go into recession it need not cause the world to follow. It is also worth remembering the Japanese economy is starting to recover, th

House Prices: Home improvements are a waste of money - Telegraph *** EXCERPT *** House Prices: Home improvements are a waste of money By Paul Farrow Last Updated: 8:58pm BST 22/07/2008 Falling house prices means that home improvements such as a new kitchen or