For many buyers contemplating a move and seeking reassurance, the tabloid headlines and conflicting research reports issued in February will have done nothing to steady nerves and provide a clear and concise view of the property market, according to the latest Monthly Market Review from property search specialists Garrington.
PropertyTalkLive.co.uk – Thursday 4 March 2010
Garrington said it had witnessed a widening gap last month between “on the ground” market activity and quantitative data issued in reports which analyse historical trends.
Latest market data issued by Nationwide’s House Price Index reports a monthly fall of 1% in February, bringing nine months of consecutive growth to an end.
This reported fall in values comes days after the news that Gross Mortgage Lending declined to an estimated £9.1billion in January, a 32% fall from £13.4billion in December and a 21% fall from £11.5billion in January 2009, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Garrington said it believed the fall could be explained by the spike in market activity in December, which in part was bolstered by purchasers wanting to complete their transactions before the end of the Stamp Duty holiday. A proportion of these transactions would have, under normal circumstances, rolled into January and Garrington said this factor, together with the adverse weather conditions, compounded the loss of momentum in the market in early 2010.
Despite this, the latest Land Registry data released in February (which covers all market transactions) reports that the annual house price movement continued to move in a positive direction standing annually at 5.2% during the reporting period up to the end of January.
