2010 house prices to rise in NW, but slower than in south

THE North West will see house price growth of 1.3% in 2010, considerably lower than UK-wide average growth of 3.5%, a new report is predicting.

The Housing and Economy Report by property adviser BNP Paribas Real Estate said although the housing recovery would be felt across the UK, it would be led by the south.

David Couch, director of Manchester development and residential consulting at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “The housing market, like the rest of the UK, is indeed recovering and not collapsing back as many have feared and some have forecast. The continued response of central government has got the economy going again in a sustainable way.

“In 2010, regardless of either a Conservative or Labour government, we fully expect the economy will continue its recovery and hence, the housing market will also continue to do so. In fact, we remain optimistic for the year ahead, and we have slightly raised our forecasts for future house prices.”

The North West saw nominal house price growth of 2.7% for the whole of in 2009 last year compared to a UK-wide future growth figure of 3.5%. The region’s housing market rose 1.4% in the final quarter of 2009, despite a fall of 0.6% being predicted.

Mr Couch said: “Our forecast for the period seems to have been under-optimistic with the vast majority of regions greatly exceeding our forecasts. The end of 2009 really did see a remarkable rise.”