No county reported price falls.
Highest house price rises occurred in Cumbria (1.5%), North London ( 1.1%), Hereford & Worcester (0.9%), and Mid Wales (0.9%). While no county experiences price falls, the Isle of Wight and Wiltshire both reported flat prices (0.0% - ).
Cities with the highest price rises were Lancaster (2.0%), Carlisle (1.9%) and Cardiff (1.5%). Only two cities revealed house price falls: Southampton (-0.4%) and Swindon (-0.9%).
The overall average price of a house stands at £146,500 (last month £145,900).
- the number of sales agreed rose 3.3% over the month
- Hometrack’s unique National Demand Index ™ shows a net increase in demand for houses. While the number of new buyers registered (demand) fell by 1.2% as the housing market entered its seasonal quiet phase. The number of new properties listed (supply) fell by a larger percentage (1.9%).
- sales price achieved as a percentage of asking price rose again for the fifth month in a row to 95.2% (95.1% in the October survey) – from a low of 94.3% in the June survey.
- average time taken to sell is 5.1 weeks and it is taking an average of 11 viewings to achieve a sale.
House prices continue to rise moderately across all regions –
John Wriglesworth, Hometrack’s Housing Economist, comments:
“The housing market is proving to be robust, despite recent rises in interest rates and with Christmas approaching. While activity can be expected to reduce over the next two months due to seasonal factors, we expect house prices to remain stable across all areas of the country. Even though interest rates are forecasted to rise a little further, they will still remain historically very low. Competitive mortgage rates with many special deals for first-time buyers, high employment and income levels and an acute short supply of housing in the UK all points to continuing rises in house prices next year.
”We predict a 4% increase in prices for 2004. There’s more chance of finding Elvis on the moon than there is of a house price crash next year.”
