UK property prices fell 2% in February
The Land Registry has today revealed a 2% fall in house prices last month with the average UK home now valued at £153,862. This is the 18th consecutive fall in property values across the UK with a year-on-year fall of 16.5%. While the situation does vary across the country, with prices in the North West falling by 4.1% against just 1% in the South West and Yorkshire, there is no doubt that the UK property market in general is suffering badly.
Completed house sales were quoted 55% lower year-on-year although a figure of 36,341 from the Land Registry is different to the 42,000 deals reported by HM Revenues and Customs. Either way, the decline year-on-year has been substantial and with mortgage liquidity still at relatively low levels there is little potential for a sharp rise in the immediate future. We are very much in a "chicken and egg situation" with debate as to what comes first, increased mortgage liquidity or increased interest in the UK housing market.
Despite a number of attempts by the UK authorities to inject more capital and more activity into the UK property market we have seen no signs of a recovery as yet. Quite how low the market will go in the short term remains to be seen but there are concerns across the board.
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