Nationwide House Price Index - is it correct?
The Nationwide House Price Index for January found that property values, after seasonal adjustment, dropped by 0.2 per cent over the month, This slight dip brought down the average house price from £163,822 in December to £162,228 in January.
Nationwide House Price Index figures reveal that prices are unlikely to move much this year. Nationwide’s chief economist, Some feel that house prices are unlikely to rise due to the weakness in demand from buyers who face greater difficulty in find a large enough deposit. The number of properties that are coming onto the market have reduced significantly and property prices will continue to remain level or fractionally go down over the coming months.
Sluggish house prices and low mortgage rates have meant first-time buyers have seen the monthly cost of owning a home fall to the lowest level for nearly ten years, according to figures from the Nationwide House Price Index. However many buyers continue to be locked out of the market by big deposit requirements and tight lending criteria.
Record low rate deals have been made possible because the Bank of England base rate has been kept at a historic low. However despite improved affordability, many first-time buyers who cannot raise an adequate deposit are being locked out of the opportunity to buy.
