And the outlook for today is..
Regular readers of my blog will be only too aware that my New Year’s Resolution for 2011 was to stay positive - whatever the headlines threw at me.
I’ll be honest – the first few weeks were tough. Everyday seemed to bring with it bad news about house prices the state of the market and the state of sexism in Britain (thank you Andy Grey). But something kept me going – namely the fact that I knew the figures were skewed.
You see in early January we were seeing figures from December when the population was either a) snowed in b) eating mince pies c) Christmas shopping or d) drunk.
December is a lovely month (usually) for retailers reindeers and children – but not so good for new homes developers or estate agents. And this December was even worse than usual thanks to the deluge of snow that sat over the nation for the best part of a month.
However January figures are now emerging and – as I suspected – the situation isn’t nearly as bleak as many would think.
According to the Halifax UK house prices actually rose 0.8% in January leaving the average price of a home at £164173.
So where does this leave us? On the brink of a property boom? Well no. I said my resolution was to be positive - not deluded.
The honest truth was neatly summed up by housing economist Martin Ellis who said “We expect limited movement in house prices overall this year.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Unlike the weather the property market will be relatively calm. It might go down a bit it might go up a bit – but in general it will stay about the same. And that is just what the country needs.
However I am going to do something that no weather forecaster is prepared to do these days – give a long range forecast. In the long term you home will be not just be a place to live and love – it will be a solid financial investment too.
For as long as the politicians planners and bankers continue to limit the number of homes our industry can build each year – the closer the country gets to a full scale housing crisis.
My advice – don’t wait for a rainy day to make your move onto up or down the property ladder. For the reasons I have just mentioned – the property market will heat up again and you don’t want to be left out in the cold.
Sue Warwick – National Sales & Marketing Director Miller Homes
I’ll be honest – the first few weeks were tough. Everyday seemed to bring with it bad news about house prices the state of the market and the state of sexism in Britain (thank you Andy Grey). But something kept me going – namely the fact that I knew the figures were skewed.
You see in early January we were seeing figures from December when the population was either a) snowed in b) eating mince pies c) Christmas shopping or d) drunk.
December is a lovely month (usually) for retailers reindeers and children – but not so good for new homes developers or estate agents. And this December was even worse than usual thanks to the deluge of snow that sat over the nation for the best part of a month.
However January figures are now emerging and – as I suspected – the situation isn’t nearly as bleak as many would think.
According to the Halifax UK house prices actually rose 0.8% in January leaving the average price of a home at £164173.
So where does this leave us? On the brink of a property boom? Well no. I said my resolution was to be positive - not deluded.
The honest truth was neatly summed up by housing economist Martin Ellis who said “We expect limited movement in house prices overall this year.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Unlike the weather the property market will be relatively calm. It might go down a bit it might go up a bit – but in general it will stay about the same. And that is just what the country needs.
However I am going to do something that no weather forecaster is prepared to do these days – give a long range forecast. In the long term you home will be not just be a place to live and love – it will be a solid financial investment too.
For as long as the politicians planners and bankers continue to limit the number of homes our industry can build each year – the closer the country gets to a full scale housing crisis.
My advice – don’t wait for a rainy day to make your move onto up or down the property ladder. For the reasons I have just mentioned – the property market will heat up again and you don’t want to be left out in the cold.
Sue Warwick – National Sales & Marketing Director Miller Homes
Published:
07 February 2011
at
10:02