There has been much discussion and talk over the last few months about the property market and whether the housing boom will end or get bigger.
Every month, it seems that various "experts" are wheeled out to give their viewpoints and say that there will either be a 10% growth or a 10% fall.
If you are looking to buy or sell a home, it's enough to drive you bonkers!
But as Bob Dylan said, "the times they are a changing" as house prices fell at their fastest pace in over two years in the three months leading up to September.
The outlook for sales was its weakest in over 4 years as interest rate worries put people off investing in property. Throw in demand from first-time buyers plummeting sharply, and this seems to imply that the housing boom could be over.
A survey from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' showed house prices declining further in September with 14.6% more surveyors reporting a fall in prices rather than a rise. This was an increase on the 3.3% more surveyors that reported a fall over a price rise in August.
Enquiries from potential buyers fell for the 10th month in a row and at the fastest rate since March 2003 and surveyors' confidence about the sales outlook was also the lowest since then. The outlook for prices was the most depressed since May 2005.
RICS said the prospect of tighter borrowing criteria as a result of recent turbulence on financial markets was mainly to blame for the slide in demand, which, along with five Bank of England interest rate hikes made it even more costly for people to buy.
"The combination of rising interest rates, the introduction of home information packs and volatility in the financial markets resulting in tightening of lending criteria, has certainly affected the confidence of buyers and sellers," said Jeremy Leaf, spokesman for RICS. "As a result, some would-be buyers are turning to the rental market."
The introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) was also having a dampening effect, although a house price crash could be averted as the economy was in robust shape, and with speculation high that the next move in interest rates will be down rather than up, Mr Leaf said buyers were using the opportunity to negotiate with more flexible vendors.
The RICS survey showed vendors are under no pressure to sell, and the supply of new properties on the market fell for the fourth month and at the sharpest rate since June, helping to support house prices.
However, London, whose economy is heavily geared towards the financial services sector, was the only region in the survey to experience a rise in sales but that is unsurprising.
Scotland saw the strongest price growth, but large price falls were recorded in East Anglia, Wales, and the Midlands. The south-east, Yorkshire and Humberside, the north-west and the south-west and also saw small decreases in price.
Looking ahead, RICS said that surveyor confidence had further slumped but this is due in part to the Northern Rock crisis. Many economic forecasting groups have said that the housing market will be particularly hard hit next year as the full impact from the credit crunch is felt.
So, is the housing boom really coming to an end or is it just something we have all heard many times before?
What do you think?
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