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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SouthFloridaGuy who wrote (21602)	1/17/2005 9:37:02 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

3/1 Arms from 2002 about to adjust... Is this a problem? Message 20958298 Message 20958379

To: SouthFloridaGuy who wrote (21602)	1/17/2005 10:03:28 PM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

UK house prices fell further in Dec, but at slowest pace for 3 mths - RICS Tuesday, January 18, 2005 12:45:34 AM afxpress.com LONDON (AFX) - UK house prices fell further in December, though at their slowest pace for three months with buyers encouraged by speculation that interest rates may have peaked, a closely-watched survey revealed The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said 37 pct more chartered surveyors reported a fall in house prices than a rise in December The result is an improvement on last month's survey, when 46 pct reported a decline -- revised from 48 pct previously --, and is better than analysts' expectations for a balance of -45 "Speculation that interest rates have peaked seems to have given encouragement to buyers during a period which is traditionally quite weak," said RICS spokesperson Ian Perry "With the economy sustaining moderate growth, the conditions for a mild pick-up in the housing market are in place for 2005, though any further significant rise in interest rates will knock back confidence," he said December's completed sales are equal to November's and mark the first time in nine months sales have not fallen, RICS said Sales volumes are 30 pct lower than the same time last year, however, and "still point to a lacklustre market following four interest rate increases in 2004" The flow of available property coming onto the market continues to rise and the increase in new instructions has resulted in higher levels of unsold property on surveyors' books, hitting an 18-month high in December Surveyor confidence in price prospects for the next three months remains subdued with further moderate price falls predicted, RICS added Almost all regions report a drop in agreed sale prices. Southern England and the Midlands posted the most significant declines, with London prices little changed, "indicating that the market's downturn is likely to have bottomed out", the survey said. Scotland is the only region where prices are still rising, but at a "significantly reduced rate" compared to last summer, RICS said