Housing market ‘could be over the worst’

People looking to make a property sale or purchase could have reason to feel optimistic about conditions in the UK housing market, industry analysts have suggested.

According to Moneynet.co.uk, recent figures from Nationwide offer a “faint glimmer of hope” that the worst of the housing slump may have passed.

This week, the building society revealed that there was 0.9 per cent increase in house prices during June 2009, which means values have risen in three of the last four months.

However, Moneynet.co.uk said that while consumers and the property sector have reason to be more optimistic, it is uncertain whether this represents a sustained recovery.

This, it stated, is because some buyers may be deterred by the rates mortgage lenders are currently charging.

Martin Gahbauer, chief economist at Nationwide, added that there several other “good reasons” why people should be cautious about the prospect of recovery.

For example, he said rising unemployment and the threat of redundancy is limiting the extent to which property enquiries can translate into actual transactions.