House Prices Drop In 2012 For Fifth Year Running.

It is widely predicted that property prices will slump by 3% in 2012 which will mean that property prices will drop for five years on the row. Homeowners will find it virtually impossible to sell their home in 2012 with the rise in unemployment, the sluggish economy and the pressure on income all being to blame.

A report out has noticed that with house prices slumping by 3% in 2012 then it will mark the fifth consecutive year that property prices in the UK will have fallen rather risen. This is quite a scary thought for all homeowners looking to sell at present or the near future. Many will find it impossible to find a buyer. It is widely believed that because household incomes remain under pressure then this is contributing to the fall in prices, this information is gathered by property analysts compiling a study.

This study also looks at the two sped divide in the UK’s property market. Regionally Britain is a very different picture when it comes to selling your property. It used to be about 10 weeks on average to sell your home in the UK. In London this figure drops to about 6.5 weeks, but anywhere else in the country and it now takes a lot longer to sell your home, if you manage to find a buyer at all. The Bank of England has noticed that many homeowners are very reluctant to trade up so many houses that are on the market are simply not selling. It seems that many people are extending their current properties rather than buying larger homes or are simply coping with the size house that they already have, whether it is too small or not.

Over the last year property prices have dropped 2.1%, this is the worst annual fall since the recession hit in 2008 and 2012 looks to be a lot worse. Many feel that the buoyancy of London’s market has kept the figure from being a lot worse than this. If London’s house prices had been excluded from this study then the figures would be bleak for the housing market and for homeowners to read if they are looking to sell.

Over the last year 78% of postcodes in the UK have seen a drop in property prices. However 43% of London postcode property prices have risen in 2011. This is largely due to foreign investors buying homes in the capital. They regard London as being a safe place to buy property when the rest of the globe is facing economic uncertainty. Average property prices in some parts of London, such Kensington and Chelsea, have reached £3.1million, which is up £1,200 PER DAY over the last 12 months.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders believes that mortgage lending will be at its lowest level in 2012 since 1977. The reason is that there are simply not that many people buying houses in the UK. They feel that in 2012 net lending will reach £5billion, which will be half of what was lent in 2011. Even in the recession year of 2008 the net lending was £41billion. These figures are shocking statistics for the housing market.

Housing experts feel that people cannot obtain mortgages because they simply do not qualify for one. Firstly they need a huge deposit, which in these economic times means not a lot of people. Secondly they need to have a squeaky clean credit history and since the recession hit in 2008 many people have seen their credit files take a hit. Add all these factors together and the result is a stagnant property market with homeowners finding their houses on the market for months and months.
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