No fear of crash in house prices (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

No fear of crash in house prices

PROPERTY firm King Sturge says that house price trends in the west won't lead to a price crash.

The company, which has offices in Swindon, said that although price inflation has cooled in the housing market, there was still enough demand in the region from buyers to keep house prices high.

Robert Atwell, pictured, a residential specialist at King Sturge, said: "The acid test for property experts is not the monthly publicity about house-price surveys it is the prices being paid for land by house-builders.

"Over the past quarter, while some house prices have dipped, there has been no decline in prices paid for land sites where the homes will be built."

Most experts predict that the Bank of England will hold or reduce interest rates over coming months.

"This is already restoring buyer confidence, which was hit by the earlier run of interest rate rises, leading to the stalling of house-price rises," said Mr Atwell.

This week Swindon's Nationwide said house prices in November were roughly the same as they had been in May, and that the market was still in a prolonged period of cooling down.