Insurance News Archive
Buy to let property insurance: House prices 'appear to be stabilising'
Posted by Michael Brown
New data from Britain's leading building society Nationwide has shown that house prices edged up by just 0.1 per cent in June.
This is the smallest monthly gain since February 2010, when prices dropped by 0.9 per cent and, according to the lender's chief economist Simon Rubinsohn, suggests that the housing market is "stabilising".
He said: "With Nationwide numbers suggesting house prices on average across the country are now less that 8 per cent away from the all-time high, it is no bad thing the price picture appears to be stabilising."
Mr Rubinsohn added that a "more important" issue for the market is whether a pick-up in transition activity occurs alongside the flatter trend in house prices.
May figures released by the Land Registry this week revealed a drop of 0.2 per cent in house prices – the first negative monthly movement since April 2009.
This represented the seventh consecutive month in which the annual figure had been positive and brought the average value of a property in England or Wales to £165,314.
30 Jun 2010
