Brokers calm over biggest monthly fall in house prices
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Brokers have played down statistics which last week revealed house prices have suffered their biggest monthly fall since figures were first recorded in 1983.
Prices fell by 3.6 per cent in September and were down by 0.9 per cent between the second and third quarters.
Savills Private Finance managing director Mark Harris says: “I do not think people should panic but there is no doubt we are looking at the biggest single drop in a long time.
“What you have to consider is the Halifax index does not include properties over £1m and traditionally it has been seen as being skewed towards the North.
“Let’s wait to see if there is a trend before we start overreacting. The quarterly trend is more realistic.”
Private Finance director Melanie Bien expects prices to be up to 2 per cent higher on an annual basis by the end of the year.
She says: “I think looking at the trend in the quarterly figure is a bit more useful than looking at one month in isolation. It is important that people do not panic. We do expect prices to soften slightly and that is what we are seeing in the quarterly figures. We still think prices will be 1 to 2 per cent higher by the end of the year.”
Chadney Bulgin director of mortgages Jonathan Clarke says: “It is a big drop but I do not think people should pay too much attention to individual monthly figures, it is just too much of a small snapshot.”
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