propertytalk Live! - Optimism among buyers as prices and transactions are up

propertytalk Live! - Optimism among buyers as prices and transactions are up

February saw monthly house prices increase by 0.3%, although annual prices have fallen by 0.5% as the strong gains of early 2010 drop out of the latest LSL/Acadametrics House Price Index figures.

The data also reports signs of a recovery in mortgage lending as the proportion of low LTV product numbers hits a 2-year low.

The number of housing transactions in February increased by 2.4% to 41,200 – but this is still only 61% of the long term average.

Dr Peter Williams, Chairman of Acadametrics, said:

“The average price of a home in England & Wales rose by a modest 0.3% in February to £222,456 (see Figure 1) building on the 0.2% rise in January. Over the last twelve months, prices have risen in six months, fallen in five and remained flat in one. On an annual basis, this month’s figure is down £1,037, or -0.5%, on the average price of February 2010.

“In the intervening months between February last year and this, we have seen the average house price fluctuate between £224,072 and £221,249, a maximum change of £2,823, or 1.3% over the year. Given that in the last six months of 2008, during the depths of the housing recession, average prices were falling by a monthly rate of -1.7%, we can see how relatively stable the current market has become, with little change in house prices being observed month on month.