House prices show “remarkable resilience”

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by Gill Montia

House prices in England and Wales rose 0.2% during December, to an average £220,385, but fell 0.5% annually.

According to the latest LSL/Acadametrics index, London property prices ended the year 3.1% higher, with Wales the only other region to show annual house price growth.

In 2011, transactions were down 2.1% on an annual basis but showed some improvement in the second half, helping prices to rise 0.7% in the six months to the end of December.

e.surv (part of the LSL group) director, Richard Sexton, comments that the market has shown “remarkable resilience”, given a year of economic turmoil.

Looking ahead, Acadametrics chairman, Dr Peter Williams, observes that the current crop of forecasts for the housing market offer a mixed view of increases and falls in 2012, in the range of 3% up or down over the year.

He also points out that latest Bank of England statistics on lending give little basis for optimism in the short-term.

More positively, Dr Williams adds: “The government’s new mortgage insurance scheme, aimed at securing higher loan-to-value mortgages for first time buyers, comes into place in April.

“Assuming this scheme is delivered without undue complexity it should be a welcome boost in an otherwise modest year.”