House prices end 2011 marginally higher
Friday, 30 December 2011 10:11 PM
House prices rose one per cent in 2011 after a 0.2 per cent fall in September, according to the Nationwide.
The building society's house price index says the average price of a house in the UK is now £163,822 after what it sees as a "surprisingly resilient" performance in the face of anaemic economic growth and rising unemployment.
There was less variation between regions than usual during the year with price changes in 10 out of 14 regions clustered in the range +2 per cent to -2 per cent.
The big two exceptions were London, where prices rose 5.5 per cent over the year, and Northern Ireland, where they fell 8.7 per cent and are now half their 2007 peak.
Prices in the capital are now just one per cent below their all-time high while prices in the UK as a whole are 10 per cent below the peak.
Chief economist Robert Gardner said 2012 was not shaping up to be much better than 2011 for the economy or the housing market.
He said: "As things stand, the housing market in 2012 looks likely to be characterised by low levels of activity once again, with prices moving sideways or modestly lower over the course of the year."
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