The FTHPI is just one of several indices that try and measure movements in house prices and looking at my comparison chart I see that they have widely fluctuating figures. The annual movements that are shown can be summarised as follows:
FTHPI -2.2%
Nationwide -10.5%
Halifax - 10.9%
Rightmove - 4.8%
Hometrack -5.3%
The way the numbers are calculated is different in these indices, and it may be that a due to a tightening of their lending policies the Halifax and Nationwide are influencing their own figures. It should also be noted that with the credit crunch a higher proportion of property is likely to be bought without mortgage finance, so it may be worth paying more attention to whole market indices and not necessary purely lenders ones.
