Following on from the gloomy quarterly report provided by the British Chambers of Commerce there was more bad news for the UK economy.
According to figures compiled by Nationwide Building Society not only did UK house prices drop last month but price stagnation is the best that can be expected for the year ahead.
Continuing economic difficulties have taken their toll on the property market with the average cost of a home falling by 0.4 per cent from August. Nationwide also revealed that compared with the same period in 2011 house prices are 1.4 per cent lower.
A separate Nationwide report showed that house prices plunged by 0.5 per cent from the second quarter to the third, whilst data compiled by Hometrack Ltd also recorded a decline in house prices in September. Statistics collected by research company Hometrack demonstrated that in September house prices fell for a third consecutive month.
Robert Gardner, chief economist for Nationwide, asserted that: ‘Labour-market developments will remain of paramount importance in deciding the trajectory of house prices. There are grounds for caution on this front, as the unusual combination of rising employment and declining economic activity that was evident in the first half of 2012 is unlikely to be sustained.’ Gardner also commented that over the course of a year he expects to see house prices remain ‘relatively flat or declining only modestly’ as the economy experiences a gradual recovery.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 1.2512
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.6160
The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.5677
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.2914
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.7990
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