House Price Market Update for February 2010

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Well the doom mungerers are out in force this month! January's data suggested the market was 'wobbling' while February data suggests it's on the slide. The double dip everyone is questioning certainly looks that bit more likely - but that's only if you take the property price reports as a measure of what's happening in the market.

The truth is that the market reports are all basing their figures versus Feb 2009 which was when we had a real uplift in the market for the first time since 2007. So effectively we are comparing an 'average' month for Feb 2010 versus an above month of activity in Feb 2009, so of course it suggests that things are moving 'downward' when in fact it's just a comparison of a good month versus a 'not so good month'.

This will continue to happen in 2010 and if you are buying or selling, please don't worry about these reports just READ MORE as we will explain and help you to work out what's happening in YOUR area for YOUR personal circumstances. We aren't estate agents or financial advisors, so we can give you a truely independent views. READ MORE

The outlook for 2010 will depend on whether buyers have run out of cash, interest rates go up forcing repossession. READ MORE for a summary of Kate's price predictions for 2010.

Performance and commentary since January 2009:-

Jan 10
Jan 09	Feb 09	Mar 09	Apr 09	May 09	Jun 09	Jul 09	Aug 09	Sep 09	Oct 09	Nov 09	Dec 09

Click here to see our latest buying/selling articles

Headline Statistics for February 2010

Headline Statistics	Statistics	+/-	Source	Month
Average Prices	£165,088 to £229,398	+2.1% to +3.2%	Rightmove Highest Land Registry Lowest	January/ February data
Transactions*	57,722*	-0.47%	Land Registry	Aug to Nov 09
Time to Sell	8.4 Weeks	A slight decrease on last month	Hometrack	February
Number of viewings to sale	11	Slightly up on last month	Hometrack	February
Offer to Market Price	93.8%	A very small increase on last month	Hometrack	February
% change in new buyers registering with agents	+8.3%	An increase on last month	Hometrack	February
No of houses sold by agents	6	Up on previous month	NAEA	January
% sold to for sale boards	26.4%	Slightly up on January	For Sale Sign Anaylsis	February
Number of new mortgages	48,198	A decrease on last month	Bank of England	January

*  Per month

Sold versus For Sale Sign Boards data*

Month 2010	Jan	Feb
Percentage Sold	26%	26.4%

Month 2009	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Percentage Sold	16%	12%	17%	19.5%	21.1%	28.3%	29.5%	30.2%	36.3%	27.3%	31%	34%	26.7%

*Data provided by FSSA, for more information on this data, Contact us

Links to useful Buying and Selling Reports

Price Indices
There are at least seven property indices and other companies that comment on the property market, please checkout the links below:-

Rightmove    Halifax    Nationwide   RICS 
Communities    Financial Times    Land Registry

Other Useful Resources
Hometrack    NAEA    RICS    Savills    Knight Frank

For more market commentary on a national or local level:-
Contact Kate Faulkner on 07974 750562 or 0845 838 1763. To read more about Kate, please visit ABOUT US, see Kate on video and for media appearances, contact:

Sylvia Tidy-Harris
STH Management                    
Tel  +44 (0) 1530 263221
Mob  +44 (0) 7970 646872
Fax: +44 (0) 1530 264018