Online House Hunter: Crystal ball gazing | Alan Cleaver | Independent Editor's choice Blogs

Online House Hunter: Crystal ball gazing | Alan Cleaver | Independent Editor's choice Blogs

HOUSE prices static over past 12 months said The Guardian. UK house prices remain volatile, said property talklive. People would be forgiven for being a little confused – particularly as those headlines are both based on the same house price index.

Curiously both are right. The LSL Property Services/Acadametrics House Price Index for March shows a monthly fall of -0.1% in the average price and zero annual growth. However with wide variations across England and Wales where there have been significant price changes.

So how do you find out the trends in house prices if you’re considering selling up or buying? There are a number of regular prices indexes and surveys issued – they’re usually issued monthly and usually at the start of the month. The journalists will pick out a nice ‘headline’ statistic but if you’re serious about gazing into the crystal ball that is second-guessing house prices then you need to be a bit more circumspect.

First, always go to the original source of any headline-grabbing price survey. A quick Google search will find you the home site of The LSL Property Services/Acadametrics House Price Index and other key players. I’ve also included a few links below. The Acadametrics’ site includes many detailed documents giving good analysis of the property market, helping you to make a better decision. Bear in mind that you need to drill down to specific regional variations. Most headlines are based on a national average but what is true for a two-bedroom home for sale in Chiswick won’t be the same as a two-bedroom home for sale in Coventry.