House prices climb in January

House prices climb in January

UK house prices rose by 0.8% in January according to new data. This is in contrast to an overall decline of 2.4% compared with the same period last year. The average house price is now 164,173. December saw a sharp fall in prices because of the adverse weather, covering much of the country in snow for two weeks. Not only did this have an enormous effect on the retail industry but also on the interest shown in the property market.

January and February have had many of the property sites seeing a lot more visitors than they had in the previous couple of months. This is quite an encouraging sign and hopefully if nothing catastrophic happens to the economy it may continue to do so.

There is little change expected over the coming year, although, some predict a dip whilst there are those who predict a slight rise towards the end of the year. The truth is what will happen this year is also strongly dependent upon the overall economic outlook. With interest rates threatening to rise and public sector cuts due to hit, confidence is at an all time low.

People are reluctant to put their property up for sale when they are unsure what is going to happen to house prices. The economy is in danger of double dipping if confidence cannot be restored.

Many wish for interest rates to stay the same at least until the end of the year. This will enable homeowners to afford their present repayment and for those looking for a mortgage to do so at a favourable rate.

Changes in house prices are more to do with location, according to a Land Registry survey. While the north of England has seen prices fall by 3.3% the south has seen prices rise over the last year - with prices in London going up by 6.2%.