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House Price Surveys
Britain is a nation of homeowners with more than two thirds of the population owning their own home. Given that home ownership is likely to be most peoples biggest asset followed by the value of their pension there has in the last 50 years been intense interest in house price values. Mortgage banks such as the Halifax together with major building society the Nationwide produce monthly house price statistics. Other regular sources of information on the state of the housing market include property websites Hometrack and Rightmove as well as trade body - the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS which all produce monthly summaries on the state of the mortgage market. HM Land Registry also publishes data showing the amount of activity in the housing market while organisations such as the Building Societies Association BSA and the British Bankers Association BBA produce monthly figures showing the amount of money they are lending in mortgages. The study from the Halifax is the longest established and taken as the benchmark by many professionals. However like rival surveys the Halifax monthly house price index as its known has its limitations. Only a sample of housing transactions are being included in the count and only transactions through estate agents are considered. Where there is a low level of activity in the market any risefall in prices may be magnified and will not necessarily be an accurate guide to prices overall. The varying house price surveys often disagree with one another because although they purport to measure the same thing they do so in different ways. Do remember with the exception of the Land Registry and the ODPM most of the organisations that publish housing market data have a vested interest in having a market that is as buoyant as possible! See also Mortgage Centre and Mortgage comparison Service for the latest facts and figures. ©Moneyextra.com Moneyextra.com recommends you take independent financial advice before acting on any article 2009-02-17 00:00:00 © Moneyextra.com