House Prices Continue Decline As Rents Soar

High street bank Nationwide has released figures revealing that the average house price fell 0.3% in November, with the annual rate of growth falling to 0.4%, the lowest it’s been since September 2009.  The report comes just two days after the Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected house prices to fall further into the New Year and beyond. 

High street bank Nationwide has released figures revealing that the average house price fell 0.3% in November, with the annual rate of growth falling to 0.4%, the lowest it’s been since September 2009.  The report comes just two days after the Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected house prices to fall further into the New Year and beyond. 

In contrast to the gloomy outlook offered by OBR, Nationwide’s Chief Economist Martin Gahbaur commented“There are early signs that the flow of new property onto the market may be slowing down again as potential sellers observe the recent weakness in prices and decide against marketing their properties at the current juncture”.

While the housing market continues to stagnate, the rental market boom shows no signs of abatingwith rents rising 9% since January, a three year high.   Estate agent Nik Madan from John D Wood & Co comments “We anticipate this rise in rents continuing throughout 2011 as a result of the difficulty in securing lending to buy and the general lack of saleable stock on the sales market.”

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