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SELL YOUR HOME QUICKLYHalifax announces 0.9% drop in house prices
House prices have dropped by 0.9% since this time last year, and by 1.3% since last month, according to Halifax, the UK’s biggest home loan lender. Halifax attributes the drop in property prices to decreased consumer demand, which, in turn, is caused by rising interest rates and overextended household budgets.
The average UK home is now worth £8,000 less than it was at the beginning of the year, according to Halifax’s findings published in The Guardian. This brings the average price of a house in the UK down to £189,027.
Chief economist at Halifax, Martin Ellis, said he expects "a mid single-digit percentage decline in house prices this year, but [that] the picture would be mixed across the UK.” He added that, "Some areas of the country are likely to record modest price rises whilst other parts are expected to see falls above the national average."
According to the chief UK economist at Global Insight, Howard Archer, these statistics are placing pressure on the Bank of England to decrease lending rates. "At this stage, we still lean towards the Bank of England delaying cutting interest rates from 5% to 4.75% until June, but further data and surveys over the coming week could well trigger a cut on Thursday," Archer explained.