The UK House Market And How To Survive It
According to the Nationwide Building Society, the UK housing
market has made a "strong start" in 2006, with the biggest rise
in house prices for 18 months, rising by 1.4% in January. This
was seen by the Nationwide as part of a "strengthening trend"
since October, with confidence returning to the housing market,
but the high price rises of 2004 were not expected to return.
Jeremy Leaf of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
said, 'The housing market is definitely seeing signs of a
recovery,' and he predicted that, 'modest price rises are
expected to continue into the year.'
Fionnuala Earley, an economist for the Nationwide, stated that
she believed that factors such as pension fears, declining
consumer appetite for debt and below-average economic growth
would help to restrain further house price rises in 2006.
Another sign that people are regaining confidence in the market
can be seen alongside a warning from the BBC that many
first-time buyers are willing to overpay in order to get onto
the first rung of the property ladder. The Yorkshire Bank has
announced that more than one in five first-time buyers are
currently willing to offer above the asking price, compared with
a year ago when less than one in ten were willing to pay over
the asking price.
Gary Lumby, a Yorkshire Bank spokesman, said, "Buyers are
starting 2006 in a more positive mood than last year, when there
seemed to be a lot more uncertainty regarding where the housing
market was going."
Whilst more first-time-buyers purchasing property is extremely
beneficial as it allows for greater movement within the market
place, the increase in the number of buyers willing to overpay
could be a cause for concern. With the UK personal debt level
currently running at