UK property investors reassured by NAEA

Estate agent industry figures have attempted to reassure UK property investors after figures showed house prices have dropped 1.7 per cent in a month.

Yesterday building society Nationwide published a property survey reporting the slump, with other figures showing the average home is worth 8.1 per cent less than it was a year ago.

But the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reacted by saying the medium-term still looks bright thanks to low unemployment and an ongoing demand for property.

NAEA chief executive Peter Bolton King said:

“The report in question started at a period of time when the property market was experiencing phenomenal growth. It would have been impossible for the market to sustain the surge in house prices that it had been experiencing in the ‘boom’ period.”

He added there was “no denying” that the credit crunch had affected market confidence but said a price crash predicted by some commentators was less likely than the idea of prices steadily returning to normal.

Mr Bolton King also said people would need to look at local markets in order to get what he said would be a more accurate picture of house prices.

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