Property may slump next year

House prices could tumble sharply in 2008, experts warned last night. They claimed rising prices have left the housing market at its most overvalued for 15 years, meaning a growing number of people are unable to get a foot on the property ladder.

The report by Lombard Street Research for The Daily Telegraph showed that house prices across the country are rising much faster than wages.

This means that affordability - a comparison of house prices and mortgage costs with incomes - has dropped by 7%over the past year.

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House prices cool as the interest rate squeeze bites

The house price boom which began more than a decade ago may be finally coming to an end, the country's biggest building society said yesterday.

The Nationwide said property values are 'clearly softening' - a warning to those buying homes at today's record levels.

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Shortage pushes homes up £3,500

A continuing shortage of homes for sale in high-cost areas helped push house prices up by more than £3,500 in February.

The lack of properties available for househunters, especially in London and the South East, has made market conditions the tightest in two years, according to Halifax - driving up the price of both family homes and first-time buyer properties.

Britain's biggest mortgage lender said that the cost of the average home leapt by 1.8% in February to reach £192,233, with the annual increase in prices remaining at 9.9%.

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Property repossessions soar

The number of families suffering the misery of mortgage repossession and the threat of homelessness has risen sharply.

Figures published today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reveal homes taken into possession by mortgage lenders shot up from around 10,300 in 2005 to 17,000 in 2006.

The CML said the rise was partly due to the financial impact of reaching the end of fixed-rate mortage deals, but mostly because of the growth in lending to people with poor credit records, where arrears and possession rates are higher.


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Will your home sell in 2007?

Making predictions can be a dangerous game and if there's one topic that divides opinion it is the property market.

Last year, many of Britain's housing market experts called only modest increases for 2006, of between 1% and 4%. But it wasn't long before the London-led property revised forecasts.

Similarly, armchair pundits who had suggested doom and gloom were left stranded by reports that prices were rising rapidly. The general consensus among the major house price reports was that prices ended up rising by an average of around 9% in 2006.

But what will happen in 2007 and will your home sell?

This is Money has rounded up the main forecasts and run the rule over them.

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Land Registry: House price growth calms in November

House prices "continued to rise steadily" going up 0.6 per cent in November, official government figures reveal.

Data from the Land Registry out today finds the average property in England and Wales cost £172,006 in November, going up 6.8 per cent in the 12 months since November 2005.

"After robust growth in September and October, the November monthly growth rate reflects a calmer market," the Land Registry states. "However, the growth rate remains firmly positive. The November monthly growth rate of 0.6 per cent is approximately twice the size of the average monthly growth in 2005."

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Nationwide in 'amazing' U-turn

Nationwide has been accused of an 'amazing' U-turn over its promise to offer new and existing customers the same mortgage rates.

Britain's biggest building society has been running a major advertising campaign mocking rival banks that refuse to offer existing customers a fair deal.

But in a surprise move, Nationwide has announced that from December existing customers remortgaging will pay 0.1% to 0.25% more than first-time buyers or customers moving home.

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House prices continue upward move

UK house price inflation picked up in September, according to the Department of Communities & Local Government.

Prices rose by 0.8% in September, pushing the annual rate of house price inflation up from 7.7% to 8%. The cost of the average UK property rose from £197,631 to £198,552 between August and September, the DCLG said.

Annual house price inflation rates rose in England, Scotland and Wales, but fell slightly, from a very high level, in Northern Ireland.

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North leads the way as property prices keep on soaring

Land Registry figures see sales up by a quarter

Average cost in England and Wales is £199,184

Property prices rose at their strongest rate since the beginning of 2005 in the latest quarter, increased by 7.7% from a year ago, while the number of sales was up by almost a quarter, the Land Registry reports today.

The renewed strength in house prices this year is thought by economists to be a significant reason behind the Bank of England's interest rate rise last week which took the base rate up to 4.75%.

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Watch the 125% mortgage trap

First-time buyers taking huge mortgages that are larger than the value of their home could wait five years before they break even.

And if house prices do not continue to rise at their current rate buyers risk being trapped in their home by negative equity for years.

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