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1 Nov 07 - 'Surprising' Boost For House Prices
House price growth saw a "surprisingly strong increase" during October with
prices increasing by 1.1%, new figures show. The data from
Nationwide Building Society also reveals annual house price
inflation bucked a recent downward trend and increased from
9% in September to 9.7% last month.
The statistics are in stark contrast to evidence that the
housing market is slowing after a series of interest rate
hikes and a tightening of lending conditions. But Nationwide
played down the strength of the figures, claiming they are
"unlikely" to mark the start of a new upward trend.
Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said:
"While some may be tempted to interpret October's numbers
as a sign that house prices are immune to deteriorating
affordability and tightening credit conditions, such a conclusion
would be misguided. Most leading indicators of housing market
activity are continuing to weaken." She added that although
the market is not as strong as it had been in 2006, unless
there is a dramatic 1990s-style crash on the property market,
house prices are unlikely to drop in the future. http://www.nationwide.co.uk/default.htm
(Nationwide) nday
Source: Nationwide
News items supplied by SelectNews, produced by PA Business,
part of the group that owns The Press Association, the UK's
national news agency. Copyright (c) PA Business 2007.
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