Are house prices up or down
This week The Nationwide have announced an average fall in property prices of £30,000…dont know where they are getting that particular stat from! They are projecting the growth in the market at the most exagerated inflated time and saying we are now losing out on this money. The papers have been quick to pick up on statistics like this, they sound good for selling papers, they know that even when money is tight people still buy papers!
As mentioned in a blog of a few weeks ago, prices in England have been static, Scottish prices have only grown by £1,000 and Wales are down around £10K. While the number of sales is significantly down.
We could not expect the growth (Gordon Browns favourite word) in the property market to rise indefinitely. Property is still the best investment you can make and only people who are selling (and not buying) will lose out, and this only on certain over built areas.
In other news, many lenders including Abbey are starting First Time Buyers Accounts which encourage savers to save before they enter the property market.