Financial Times UK Property Market Review - June 09

If you want to know what is happening in the UK property market, the Financial Times Property Index is the best way understand the trends. There are many indices, but the Financial Times Index is the only one which takes all property in the UK into account. This is what they had to say for June 09.

House prices in June fell by 0.3%

The average price of all property transactions completed in England & Wales in June 2009 was 0.3% lower than in May – the lowest monthly fall since April 2008.

• Prices are now 13.1% lower than a year ago
On an annual basis, the average price of all completed transactions in England and Wales in June is 13.1% lower than a year ago – and together with the revised figure for May now show that on an annual basis, the fall in house prices was at its highest in April 2009 at minus 13.7%.

• Housing Transactions are on the increase
Although from a very low base, the traditional increase in housing transactions during the Spring did take place in 2009, despite the reported difficulties in obtaining mortgage finance. May housing transactions were up 43% over February 2009, against an average increase of 36% for the equivalent period over the last 9 years. However the overall level of housing transactions in May 2009, at approximately 40,000, is down 62% from the average 103,937 homes sold in May, for the years 2000–2008.

Dr Peter Williams Chairman of Acadametrics said
“The average house price has fallen well below the £200,000 mark and at £197,802 is now back to where it was in January 2006, that is more than 3 years ago.

“The monthly % change at -0.3% is one seventh of the peak monthly fall recorded some six months ago, at -2.2% in November 2008, and the data do suggest that the sharpest falls are behind us and that the rate of decline has now slowed significantly.”

If you want to read the report, along with regional analysis then click here for the download.

Go to www.ipsinvest.com for more information on the UK market and the current opportunities.