House Price Spy Blog

Annual average property prices in the UK dropped for 2007 for the first ime since 1995. The average price in England was £174,000 which is down 11K on the prevfious year. The CEBR (Center For Economic Research)predicts a fall of 2.5% duing 2008.

This follows Northern Rock, US financial/lending crisis and last weeks stock market crash.

The lack of new available housing has not balanced out this trend, and people in new build housing and in outlying rural areas appear to be most affected.

Average property prices have not decreased since before New Labour took over and whether Gordon Brown is about to cut interest rates we will find out in the months to come.

With an election in the offing will Gordon Brown go medium term or short term? Average property prices will be determined by interest rates which there are predicted to be 4 this year….

The Scottish Parliament has put aside £24 million of tax payers to give first time buyers a step up on the housing ladder after a successful pilot scheme in Lothian.

Certain councils with higher than average property prices have been asked to join the scheme which allows buyers to buy a 60% to 80% stake in a property with a housing association paying the rest. The terms of this agreement have not been stated, is there a maximum spend or a minimum spend and are there any other restrictions? More as we get the details.

There was a 20 year low in first time buyers in 2007, with prices still rising in areas such as Glasgow and Edinburgh to record levels.

This scheme will most likely be extended to the rest of the UK in time, but for the moment places like Perth, Stirling and Aberdeen will see more first time buyers than previously.

The Bank Of England has maintained the rate of interest for mortgages at 5.5% for January 2008. The ruling was made on the 10th and follows a reduction in inflation to 2.1% with a target of 2%.

This will be good news for borrowers following a busy Christmas period and 5 consecutive increases in 2007!

Property prices are falling in some parts of the country and another raise in the the lending rate could have seen more pressure on sellers in terms of borrowers being put of by prohibitive rates of interest.

See all the trends and get details of the next change direct from The Bank Of England

Happy New Year to all readers of the House Price Spy Blog and members of the main site!!! It’s back to the real world and paying the mortgage after enjoying some well deserved(ish) time of from your work worries! The Bank of England will announce the new rate of interest on the 10th, more on that it comes (could we be in for another drop? or was the drop before Christmas just a ploy by the Government to get us to spend spend spend at Christmas?)

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