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Housing market dogged by uncertainty

Monday, 30 January 2012 9:26 AM

The housing market is stuck in the doldrums of a seasonal slowdown and weak consumer confidence, according to Hometrack.

The property analytics firm's market survey for January shows that buyer registrations and sales both fell and it says they are set to continue to fall.

Demand fell 11 per cent in the second half of 2011 and there was a 23 per cent decline in buyers registering with agents between August and January.

Meanwhile the supply of homes for sale has contracted by seven per cent over the last six months – the biggest fall since 2009.

That's translated into a month of no change in house prices. Nationally, there has not been a monthly increase in the last 18 months.

London saw a slight increase in prices in January, and demand for property in the capital is set to continue from overseas buyers. However, southern England outside the capital saw the biggest fall in demand over the last six months.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack director of research, said: "Given the pressure on household finances and the outlook for the wider economy as a whole, we expect only a modest improvement in levels of demand in the coming months.

"The net effect will be a continued negative balance between supply and demand pointing to further downward pressure on prices in the months ahead."

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