No change does not mean a collapse

Leading south London suburban estate agent claims there is no collapse in UK house prices.

[ClickPress, Tue Feb 05 2008] The announcemeny by the Halifax that UK hose prices during January were unchanged were an inconvenient contradiction of what the 'experts' have been predicting namely that our house prices are collapsing which they clearly are not.

Less mortgages being taken out means only that the turnover is down not that prices are dropping. Part of the reason that turnover is down is due to the nervousness of the public, many rattled by the Northern Rock affair and the hysterical press we are blessed with in the UK.

The Halifax clearly stated "the sound economic fundamental and lower interest rates will support house prices" and as an estate agent I would add the the statement " There aint much for sale".

We are not following, and have never followed, the USA housing market. We dont have their wide open spaces ,easy planning laws and off the shelf new homes - if only we did!

The Bank of England meet this week and are highly likely to make one of a series in interest rate reductions which will give some relief to high mortgage payers and perhaps encourage a few first time buyers plus sellers moving home to give us hungry estate agents some TURNOVER which is what we are paid on. High or low prices make little difference to our wage packets. We need some volume sales at any price and buyers waiting for cheaper houses in the UK will have a long wait.

You could also quote the Nationwide who reported a drop of 0.1% during January but common sense must tell you two hundrd quid on two hundred grand average price is also 'no change'.

Ron Kennor is General Manager of Robinson Jackson Estate Agencies

Bookmark this release: Del.icio.us - Digg - Furl - Blinklist - Reddit