February 7, 2009
House Prices Start To Rise
House Prices In The UK Rise 1.9% in January - Could this be the news us property investors are waiting for?
The price of the average UK house rose 1.9% in January, according to the Halifax House Price Index (HPI).
At first glance, that sounds like a major piece of news, but it’s probably best not to read too much into one month’s figures.
In fact today’s press release from Halifax points out that prices don’t always move in the same direction month after month – even in a strong downturn in UK property prices. Back in 1989, house prices fell for seven successive months, but then rose for the first three months of 1990 before starting to fall again.
What’s more, this is only one survey that could perhaps be distorted by a few significant deals. I suspect the picture will look different when other surveys come out for January.
I think the most interesting part of Halifax’s press release is in the accompanying commentary, not the headline number.
Encouraging Signs - although 1 swallow does not make a Spring.
