Prices back to 2008 levels
The latest batch of property price figures from House Price Spy show that the recovery continues for the moment with the average house price back to the levels of a year ago. This is based on total sales of 4% ie number of sales compared to number of houses. During the times of rapid house prices this figure was up at around 7% or 8% so you can see that the recovery continues to be fragile -a sudden slump in sales could sway the average either way.
There are many people in the UK who are hanging onto the lowest interest rates in living memory rather than move home, why take all the expense and rouble when your mortgage is down to almost zero? Would the Bank Of England stimulate more growth in the property market (and therefore the finance sector) by raising the rate? Looks like the goverment/BOE are more worried about families losing their homes than getting the economy back on track.
Saying that, once the large stock of rental properties that have enjoyed these low rates see prices raise significantly they may choose to sell up and boost the market-but again this is only a temporary fix!