Third Month Of Rising Property Prices

Nationwide House Price Index July 2009: Key Points

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "Even if prices were to remain unchanged for the rest of 2009, the year-on-year rate would continue to improve since prices were falling very sharply in the second half of last year.

"For the first seven months of 2009 as a whole, prices have risen by a cumulative 1.3 per cent, suggesting there is now a reasonable chance that prices could end the year slightly higher than where they started. Only a few months ago, such an outcome would have appeared unthinkable."

Note of Caution

Mr Gahbauer continued: "If prices continue to increase at the rate of the last three months, they would soon rise to levels that would be noticeably out of line with earnings, rents and other fundamental determinants of housing valuations.

"One should also not underestimate the impact over time of high unemployment, which has implications both for buyer confidence and the financial pressure on existing owners to sell.

"It is unlikely, therefore, that price increases can be sustained for long at the very strong rate observed over the last few months."

Read the full Nationwide House Price Index July 2009

Further House Price Rise In June  (01 Jul 2009) House prices rose again in June despite very low activity levels, says Nationwide…...More