UK housing market goes from bad to worse

Wednesday 24.09.2008 (23 months ago)
United Kingdom :: Property News

The truly dire state of Britain’s housing market was revealed today by RightMove, a major property website, which argued that the residential real estate industry was “on its knees” after four straight months of falling prices.

Average home prices declined by an additional 3.3 percent this month alone, compared to last year’s figures. The average price of a family home in the UK now stands at £227,438.

But the real problem is that estate agents are seeing a dramatic decline in the number of new property listings.
In fact, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune, new listing have dropped to record lows in the UK, since they have never before been lower in September of any year than they are now.

Miles Shipside, RightMove’s commercial director, noted that mortgage funding in the UK is in a “disastrous state” and argued that it is now up to major financial institutions to find a solution to these problems.

Homeowners in the UK are more reluctant than ever to sell their property due to the low prices and the difficulty that prospective buyers have when it comes to securing mortgages.

Shipside believes that many of those who do decide to sell find themselves forced into the dismal housing market for reasons beyond their control, such as a death in the family or divorce.

While a major mortgage lender in the UK, HBOS PLC, effectively confirmed RightMove’s analysis and added that housing prices have not fallen so fast and so far for more than 25 years, a growing number of analysts are pointing to the stark difference between the depressing situation in Britain and a far more positive picture in Eastern Europe.

Slovakia remains the region’s powerhouse when it comes to the real estate market—especially in Bratislava—and the country’s finances are and economic outlook are far brighter than that of the UK.
As such, Slovakia and other East/Central European countries stand to benefit as Britons seeking to invest take their money abroad.

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