According to a report by Assetz House Price Watch, who summarise the five major United Kingdom house price indices, the average house price in January was nearly £200,000.
Assetz expect prices remain around this level and believe that the Bank’s decision to not to increase rates at the moment indicate that inflation was under control and they have predicted a decrease in rates towards the end of the year. They have also commented that if the rates did increase it would cause a modest increase in the number of repossessions.
Our view
Some ‘experts’ in the field believe that there is no sign of the market slowing and that the growth will continue. We believe that the market will slow and that rates will fall later this year. However, as per our previous comments on mortgages and interest rates, we do expect a rate rise in May or June. You have been warned (again!).