The Nationwide reports that house prices continue to be "firm" in August, with moderate strong growth continuing:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5300744.stm
Quote:
The building society's housing survey found that prices rose by 0.8% during the month, the same as in July, lifting the annual rate of growth to 6.6%.
This was the fastest yearly growth rate since April 2005, and the average UK property now costs £167,721.
The three-monthly trend showed prices rose 1.4% in the three months to August compared with the previous quarter.
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This is coupled with continuing strong mortgage lending figures:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5297672.stm
Quote:
The number of new mortgages approved for house buying, but not yet lent, rose again in July to 120,000 - the highest level since the start of 2006.
Approvals have been rising steadily this year and are up 24% on a year ago.
Meanwhile the amount of money actually lent on new mortgages in July rose by £9.8bn, the second highest monthly increase on record.
The continued acceleration in the value of mortgage borrowing has helped to drive up the total amount of debt owed by individuals in the UK.
This rose by another £10.9bn in July, pushing the outstanding level of personal debt to £1.24 trillion.
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However, having just had an interest rate rise, and with inflation continuing to threaten, looks like we could be looking at further interest rate rises - possibly even one later in the year - which is bound to put additional pressure on the current property market.
09-13-2006, 10:43 AM
August house prices "firm"
