Residential conveyancing news: House prices could fall further by 2011

Posted 25/11/2010

First-time buyers hoping to get their foot on the property ladder may wish to seek a residential conveyancing solicitor and do so soon, if new suggestions from Nationwide are anything to go by.

The building society has predicted that house prices are likely to remain flat or even fall further by early 2011.

This was attributed to consumer confidence as a result of the government’s spending review and austerity measures.

However, Nationwide said it is unlikely that house price falls would be as significant as those seen in 2008 due to low interest rates cutting repossessions and mortgage arrears.

Mark Rennison, the company’s finance director, said: “We are not expecting anything dramatic in terms of major falls, but we do see a continuing slide to negative over the rest of this year and into next.”

This comes after a recent study from Rightmove, which forecast an increase in the number of first-time buyers purchasing homes in the coming months.

It reported that more than a quarter of people intending to buy a property in the next year will be doing so for the first time, buoyed by lower prices and better lending.