Property Crumble

Rob Perrins Managing Director of Berkeley Group

Whilst the property market indicies tell us that property prices have risen slightly over the past couple of months, the latest results from Berkeley Group PLC paint a different picture.

Rob Perrins, Managing Director, said

The value of sales are well ahead of 2008 and approximately 40% below historic averages over the past six years.”

and

Transactions fell from 968 to 914 units and average sales prices have fallen from £399,000 to £299,00

and

we have seen “positive signs from equity rich customers, particularly from overseas who have the additional benefit of the depreciation of Sterling

So, what are we to make of this?

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Graham Beale Nationwide Chief Exec

Graham Beale, CEO of major UK building society, The Nationwide, today predicted that
 

“… [UK] Economic recovery is forecast to be slow and we expect interest rates to remain at their current level until at least the fourth quarter of 2010.

And his UK house price forecast…. 

“We are also cautious on future prospects for the housing market. The growth in house prices over recent months appears to be driven by lack of supply, and growth in unemployment throughout 2010 will inevitably exert downward pressure on house prices.

In addition, he complained that the UK

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