Estate agents urge buyers not to panic
Friday, 1 August 2008 12:00 AM
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has urged buyers not to panic amid gathering property gloom, insisting parts of the country remain unaffected.
Following the release of the Nationwide house price index - which shows annual house price falls now total 8.1 per cent across the country - the NAEA has reminded buyers this tells only "part of the story".
"In order to gain a clearer picture there is a need to look regionally," said Peter Bolton King, NAEA chief executive.
"We are already aware from our own members that house prices are being affected differently throughout the country so to see that the report showed an aggregate drop in house price comes as no surprise.
"However, there is a real need to keep this in perspective.
"The picture is mixed across the country and some areas will be more affected than others, so people really need to look to their local markets to get a true picture," he added.
Nationwide research finds house prices fell 1.7 per cent in July, the ninth consecutive monthly fall.
However, the NAEA reminds homeowners average prices remain £11,000 higher than three years ago.
"There is no denying that the credit crunch has affected confidence in the market - but it is still important to remember that the underlying factors that support the property market remain: low unemployment, historically low interest rates and a pent-up demand for houses," added Mr King.
"Therefore, rather than a dramatic fall that some 'doom and gloom' merchants are predicting, we should look towards the medium term where there are no reasons to suggest that prices of homes won't return to a more steady pace in the future."
Indeed separate research from the Land Registry finds average property prices in Windsor & Maidenhead were up five per cent over the last year, West Sussex saw increases of 4.1 per cent, while Merthyr Tydfil saw gains of 7.7 per cent.
This compares to average growth for England and Wales as a whole over the last year of just 0.1 per cent.
Chris O'Toole
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