UK govt figures show Nov house prices down 0.1 pct from Oct
Monday, January 10, 2005 10:13:21 AM
afxpress.com
LONDON (AFX) - Government figures showed that the UK housing market continues to slow down, though not as sharply as some have been fearing
The office of the Deputy Prime Minister said the average house price in the UK in November fell by 0.1 pct from October to 180,226 stg from 180.444. Although prices fell month-on-month, annual inflation rose to 13.8 pct in November from 12.6 pct the previous month because prices fell by 1.1 pct over the same period in 2003
The ODPM said the fall in monthly house prices can be attributed to a 0.7 pct fall in prices for detached houses and 0.5 pct for flats, partially offset by a 0.4 pct increase in the prices of semi-detached house and a 0.1 pct rise in terraced houses
It added that all the home countries except for Northern Ireland saw a rise in their annual inflation rate in November
The picture emerging from the UK's housing market has been mixed of late
Last week, the Halifax, part of the HBOS PLC banking group and the UK's biggest mortgage provider, found that house prices in December actually increased a seasonally adjusted 1.1 pct from November
However, other figures from the Bank of England last week raised concerns that the market is really struggling in the wake of the Bank of England's rate hikes over the last year
It revealed that the number of mortgage approvals in November slid to their lowest level in nearly a decade
The central bank said the number of approvals during the month fell to 77,000 from 85,000 the previous month. The November total was the lowest monthly figure since September 1995, when approvals totalled 74,000
Overall though, analysts said the data is unlikely to change sentiment on the BoE rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at Thursday's meeting to keep interest rates unchanged
The MPC raised the cost of borrowing a quarter point on five occasions since November 2003, taking its key repo rate up to 4.75 pct as it sought to stem inflationary pressures arising from above-trend growth and rampant consumer demand
The money markets have already begun to factor in unchanged rates for the first few months of this year, especially after the minutes of the December MPC meeting showed the nine-member panel discussed the possibility of cutting rates. |
