House prices predicted to rise 1% in 2008
House prices are likely to increase by an average of only one per cent during 2008, a property market expert has predicted.
The December report by residential property information consultancy Hometrack revealed that the average house price slipped by 0.3 per cent during December - the third consecutive monthly fall.
Hometrack's research director Richard Donnell attributed the decrease to a slowdown in demand caused by falling confidence among mortgage borrowers, amid worries about the state of the financial markets.
Although the Bank of England's monetary policy committee cut the base rate earlier this month, Mr Donnell expects the housing market to remain slow during 2008 and forecasted average price growth of one per cent and a drop in sales volume of 17 per cent.
He added: "A weak outlook for prices and continued uncertainty among sellers creates the potential for a major lack of housing coming to the market in the first quarter of the year."
The National Association of Estate Agents recently reported that market activity continued to slow during November, with the average number of sales per agent falling from ten in October to nine last month.
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