From This is Money:
The building society said house prices are now 1.3% higher than at the start of 2009 and could now finish slightly higher for the year as a whole.
‘Even if prices were to remain unchanged for the rest of 2009, the year-on-year rate would continue to improve since prices were falling very sharply in the second half of last year,’ he added.
The data follows Bank of England figures yesterday showing the number of mortgages approved for house purchase rising for the fifth month in a row during June to the highest level for more than a year.
‘When it became clear that Government interventions around the globe had stabilised the banking system and prevented a worst-case economic outcome, some of this pent-up demand re-entered the market, with the added assistance of very low interest rates,’ he said.
This is because at current rates prices would become out of kilter with average earnings, while rising unemployment would force more households to sell up.
Howard Archer, economis…
Leave a Reply