Homes hit by fall in prices

PROPERTY prices in Ashford have fallen across the board, according to housing experts Home.co.uk

A comparison of median selling prices in October 2011 compared to October 2010 shows overall prices have dropped by between three and 13 per cent.

Estate Agents' for sale or to let boards. MARKET FORCES: The process of moving house is set for revolutionary change. If you are a property owner, a buyer or someone who just wants to get on to the housing ladder, the GovernmentÕs proposed Housing Bill, with its imposition of a Home Information Pack (HIP) will have a massive effect on you. Anything that will improve the process of buying and selling property, which has gone largely unchanged for centuries, has to be welcomed. It is equally beneficial to estate agents, financial advisers, mortgage lenders, builders and the other businesses associated with the moving industry as it is to the public in general. This is a golden opportunity for the Government to address the issues that the public feel strongly about but, sadly, the HIP has completely missed the mark.
TOP END: East Mountain Lane, Kennington, Ashford GIAJ20120113A-002_C
VALUE: Kempes Place retirement homes GIAJ20120113B-002_C
File photo dated 05/12/08 of Monopoly board properties. Housing market misery deepened today after Nationwide figures showed prices slid 2.5% in May - the biggest monthly fall recorded by the building society. PRESS ASSOCIATION photo. Issue date: Thursday May 29, 2008. The typical house lost almost £5,000 in value, to £173,583, over the month, leaving average prices 4.4% lower than a year ago. May's drop represents a seventh successive month of falls - the longest consecutive period of decline since 1992 - as fears over the economy grow, Nationwide added. See PA story ECONOMY House. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
OPTIMISM: Prices will remain flat, says Nigel Gould, of Gould & Harrison property agents, but regeneration and the international station could attract buyers

Terraced homes have been hit hardest with average prices dropping from £158,600 to £137,500, a drop of 13 per cent.

For semi-detached homes the fall is three per cent from a median price of £175,000 down to £169,998. The same percentage fall is shown for flats and detached homes show a drop of eight per cent.

The number of properties actually being sold has also seen a fall of 24 per cent and 23 per cent for detached homes and flats respectively, nine per cent for semis and 19 per cent for terraced.

Research by Home.co.uk also shows properties are spending longer on the market. Figures comparing last month to January 2010 show a detached house is likely to be up for sale for 162 days compared to 131 a year ago.

Flat owners face the greatest wait, up to 248 days compared to 186 last year.

The market is also suffering from an over-supply of four-bed detached homes, says Nigel Gould, partner with Gould & Harrison property agents based in Middle Row.

Mr Gould said: "Possibly lower prices have also been seen for modern, four-bed detached properties. There has been an awful lot of new builds over the past 15 years and a lot of these four-bed homes so it is possibly an over-supply."

Mr Gould predicts prices will stay flat this year although there is also some optimism.

He said: "It is not going to be easy, first-time buyers are still struggling and there is high unemployment. I think prices will remain fairly flat, although hopefully there will be a bit of activity in the early part of the year but then it may tail off.

"I do see optimism for Ashford with the international station and it being a growth area but do not think anything is really going to boost prices in the short-term.

"What we really want is a stable market."

Other areas of sale may be static but there has been a rise in the buy-to-let market because of the lower property prices.

Mr Gould said: "We have certainly seen people come into the market as landlords or landladies who had not had the intention of being a property owner in the sense of renting but have opted for it because they are getting such a poor return on their savings."

The end of stamp duty relief for first-time buyers, which has been applied to properties of £250,000 and more, may also flatten the market, says Mr Gould, when it reverts to properties of £125,000 and more on March 24.

Nationally, real estate and investment firm Jones Lang LaSalle is predicting a difficult first half of 2012 for the property market but says there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Executive chairman Richard Batten said: "This year will see a slow start but hopefully a strong final burst to lift hopes for 2013. The last 12 months have led to a sober reassessment of recovery prospects for the UK economy. It is clear now that the financial crisis and the ongoing fiscal squeeze have left the domestic economy weaker than previously expected.

"Growth is likely to fall into two phases in 2012. The first six months are expected to be flat at best, with the possibility of a slight dip. But the second half should be brighter."