It would appear that it is not all doom and gloom out there, I actually came across a more optimistic article in What House? magazine, interesting reading!
Leading UK residential estate agency Savills has revised its predictions for the housing market over the next four years - but crucially, it still believes that house prices are shortly to suffer further falls, albeit with a gradual decline rather than an outright crash.
Yolanda Barnes, Savills' head of residential research, explains the company's forecast. "This will not be a repeat of 2008, as some doomsayers have suggested," she emphasises. "[It is] a necessary short-term correction of recent growth which was driven by abnormal market conditions rather than fundamental demand and wealth. The market now faces short-term price falls followed by a period of low or zero growth."
Looking further ahead to 2011 and 2012, Barnes foresees little to cheer about: "By the end of 2011 we expect the price growth of 2009 and the first half of 2010 to be eroded...with price growth expected to resume across all regions in the second half of 2012."
Barnes' analysis identifies the recovery of the economy and improved mortgage lending as the two prime factors in contributing to improved house prices - the same two factors that this week's RICS UK House Price Survey saw as being the driving force behind reversing the recent downturn in property prices.
Once again, regional variations will buck the national trend, according to the Savills report, with London and the South East leading the way in achieving sustained price growth.
Barnes concludes her analysis with a cautious note of optimism: "We firmly believe that the UK residential markets have seen the worst of the price falls, though lower turnover is expected to be a longer-term feature of the market. For investors, our mantra is clear: seek out quality and invest for the mid- to longer-term and you will have little to fear from the market."
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