Land Registery HPI -
Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said: “No monthly change in house prices doesn’t mean the value of property is staying still. With inflation running at over 4.2% and prices falling on an annual basis, the value of property is falling steadily. But considering the challenging conditions the market has faced, a 1.3% annual fall in prices shouldn’t strike fear into the hearts of mortgage lenders. The property market was subdued in 2011, as nine out of the twelve most recent months reported in the Land Registry figures showed transactions fell year on year and the developing crisis in the eurozone has reduced confidence among buyers. That this has caused only a modest price fall is a demonstration of the resilience of the UK property market. Lenders have acknowledged this, offering record low mortgage rates and increasing lending volumes on an annual basis for the last four months for the first time in four years. Although prices are falling, the size of those falls is encouraging when one considers the current strength of the downward pressure on property prices and the willingness of lenders to make finance available to support the market”.
BBA Lending Stats -
Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said: “The fall of GDP in the final quarter of last year makes these BBA numbers are all the more remarkable. Those who complain lending volumes are still far below the long term average should count their blessings. Stop-start growth in the UK economy and potential disaster in those of our main trading partners could have caused lenders to button up their wallets and head for the hills. Instead, the high street banks boosted their net lending activity 1.5% last year and last month injected 12% more into the property market than they did in December 2010. This is a show of defiant confidence in the UK’s economy and lenders should be commended for it”.