uk property market stuck in rut till 2020 says pwc
News Posted On: 13 July 2011
UK house prices will be lucky to have returned to their pre-bust levels by 2020 says PricewaterhouseCoopers in its latest outlook on the UK economy. According to the firm there is only a 50% chance that prices will be higher in real terms in 2020 than they were in 2007. This is reduced to just a 12% chance of such growth when the term is reduced to the next 4 years. In fact the firm projects that prices will actually fall by 12% in real terms between now and 2015.
Unfortunately, once the voice of hope and optimism, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors is also turning increasingly negative. In the latest release of its Housing Market Survey the firm report on a stalemate in the housing market in June, with demand failing to grow and supply also reducing.
Rics' housing spokesman Alan Collett said: "The housing market was pretty flat during June. Buyer interest in purchasing property remains relatively low across much of the UK while the volume of new stock which is coming to the market has slackened. With continued uncertainty over the jobs market and the economy, this subdued picture is set to continue."
Of course, reducing supply combined plus reducing demand does not equal reducing prices, it equals the kind of stagnation we saw in UK prices throughout most of 2010.
The picture is going to get worse before it shows any sign of recovery, warned John Hawksworth, the chief economist at PwC. "We expect average UK house prices to drift down further over the next year and then enjoy only a modest recovery over the next few years," he said.
"This reflects the dampening impact of declining real income levels and continued tight credit conditions for first-time buyers in particular." Mr Hawksworth added that there would be a "long, slow road to recovery".
"Later in the decade, we expect stronger house price growth as supply shortages reassert themselves and credit availability gradually returns to more normal levels," he said.
View UK property for sale
Written by Liam Bailey
Back to news articles for this country
Latest Related News Articles in England
UK Property Prices Falling Says RICS
2012-05-10
Last month the property prices in the UK fell at the quickest rate for six months according to a rep.....
UK Properties Selling for More Than a Million Quid Declines
2012-05-04
The number of properties selling for more than one million pounds in the UK declined last year, but......
Selling UK Homes in the Digital Age
2012-04-18
Nowadays selling houses is completely difficult, and some would say more complicated, but others wou.....
One Million Pounds Will Not Get You in the Rich Club Today
2012-04-13
If you dream of becoming part of the jet-set club of wealthy Brits who maintain holiday homes in Tus.....
UK Building Projects to Get Multi Million Pound Cash Boost
2012-03-23
It was recently announced that more than 200 building projects which have currently ground to a halt.....
UK Government Announces Details of the NewBuy Scheme
2012-03-14
The UK government finally announced the details of its NewBuy scheme to get first time buyers buying.....
Global House Prices Being Pulled Down by Euro Crisis
2011-12-20
According to the latest release of the Knight Frank global house price index, the world's house pric.....
UK Property Prices Edge up Slightly in November
2011-12-01
Prices of residential property increased by 0.4% in November and are 1.6% higher than a year ago, ac.....
Thousands of UK FTBs Could Be Trapped in Their Homes
2011-11-17
A new report from HSBC has pointed out that up to 360,000 of 2007's first time buyers could be trapp.....
UK House Prices Up for First Time in 3 Months says Halifax
2011-11-10
Data just released by the Halifax show property prices in the UK increased in October for the first .....