UK House Prices -The next bubble waiting to burst ??

House prices are rising for the first time in 15 months



The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said there was evidence that a small majority of its members reported rising house prices prices over the three months to November, led by high levels of optimism among London estate agents waiting for substantial City bonuses.....

London estate agents showed the largest increase in reports of rising prices, with 24 per cent more agents believing prices had risen than those who thought they had fallen.

James Scott-Lee of Chancellors estate agent in Richmond, south-west London, said: "With rumours rife of good City bonuses around the corner, the top end of the market is seeing more activity, especially in affluent London areas."

Positive sentiment is also strongly evident in Scotland, which has experienced rapidly rising prices during the past year.

In the English midlands and the north, large majorities of agents still report falling prices. However, optimism has returned to every region of the UK, even those in which agents have reported a decline. Rics reported a positive balance of 20 per cent of agents in England and Wales believing house prices would rise in the coming months, compared with a reading of minus 20 per cent in November last year. In Scotland, the balance of optimists is plus 50 per cent.

Mr Perry said the improvement in sentiment across the country had been helpedby expectations of further moves by the Bank of England to cut the cost of borrowing. "There is a universal expectation from agents that interest rates areheading down again in the new year, which is providing the market with confidence," he said.


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Edit - 'fellowes' whoever you are, if you are going to copy my posts on to CHAMBEAJ's housing thread (from which some of us are banned) at least try to add some of your own input onto them!