North West housing market to rebound next year, says agent
HOUSE prices in the the North West dropped by 1.06% in the third quarter of 2010 but are set to rebound next year, according to new research.
BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Housing and the Economy report stated that house prices fell by 1.06% in the region, which was higher than both the predicted fall of 0.15% and the national average drop of 0.81%. However, the region outperformed other northern areas, with both the Yorkshire and North East regions reporting steeper declines.
The data, which was put together by Professor Patrick Minford at the Applied Economics unit at the University of Cardiff, suggests that a revival is on the way for the region’s housing market, though, predicting a jump of 3% in the fourth quarter – ahead of the national average of 1.45%,
It also said that the region will continue to outperform the national average next year, predicting a 7.11% rise in house prices in the North West in 2011 against a national increase of 5.48%.
David Couch, BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Manchester-based director of development and residential consulting, said: “The current flatness in the housing market partly reflects the uncertainty in the UK as people contemplate the prospect of large public sector cuts.
“However, monetary policy will offset the fiscal tightening both in the UK and most of the other major countries. The market’s relative strength must be attributed to the policy response that was invoked in the form of bank rescues and extreme monetary easing.”
He added: “The Coalition Government’s actions have been rightly focussed on the need to reduce the Government’s deficit. Our forecast is that the economy will absorb these cutbacks in spending without falling back into recession.
“Prospects for the housing market are for a cautious revival in prices as this recovery proceeds. Volumes of transactions are well down, largely because of the absence of finance for first-time buyers on terms that they can afford. But prices are holding up as sellers keep properties off the market until times are more normal.”
