Insurance News Archive

UK housing market 'will be difficult to turn around'

The UK housing market is going to continue to struggle for a long time because the current conditions are very difficult to reverse, according to an expert.

Paul Holmes, chief executive of Firstrung, says: "When house prices collapse it is a very slow return to any sense of normality because it is a really difficult market to turn around."

He adds that the sector started to get "very nasty" in August last year and expects conditions to continue like this for a long time.

Mr Holmes claims that agents put forward the "fable of spring bounce" which encourages people to put their homes on the market, but they will continue to ask for high prices as they cannot afford to sell for less if they are paying a high mortgage rate.

The latest Halifax House Price Index found that property values fell by 2.3 per cent in February 2009 compared to a two per cent rise in January.

25 Mar 2009