Your home may well be one of your major assets. Even if you are not planning on moving in the near future, it is always a good idea to keep abreast of the latest changes in the housing market.
Below is the December 2015 comparison of three major national house price indexes to keep you in touch with where the market is heading.
Please note that there will also be regional variations
|
House price index source
|
Period covered
|
Average house price
|
Monthly change (%)
|
Change past year (%)
|
|
Rightmove
|
December 2015
|
£289,452
|
1.1% down
|
7.4% up
|
|
Halifax
|
December 2015
|
£208,286
|
1.7% up
|
9.5% up
|
|
Nationwide
|
December 2015*
|
£196,999
|
0.8% up
|
4.5% up
|
The Rightmove press release also includes some predictions for 2016...
'Rightmove 2016 forecast:
- new seller asking prices to rise by 6%
- increasingly stretched affordability and extra stamp duty on buy-to-let sector will be outweighed by stark imbalance between supply and demand
- buyer enquiries to agents since beginning of October this year up 37% and number of properties coming to market down 5% compared to the same period in 2014
- demand and price boost predicted in more affordable cities such as Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Manchester as highly-skilled workers may choose to leave London for buoyant 'city-regions'
- sell by April is advised for first-time sellers and financially-stretched landlords, while first-time buyers may want to wait for a better deal until additional stamp duty on buy-to-let properties gives them an extra edge.'