RICS: Nationwide October house price index

Commenting on the Nationwide house price index, Oliver Gilmartin RICS senior economist said: "Tighter lending criteria may have been the protagonist driving the fall off in sales volumes over the last year to historic lows although buyers expectations and confidence appears to have played an equally important role in recent months. With the country teetering on the brink of recession there seems little likelihood that house prices will recover in the short term as fears over job losses take centre stage. Many vendors are being forced to lower their asking prices by as much as 13 percent in some regions to achieve a sale or alternatively are placing properties in the rental market until house prices recover. Amateur landlords should factor in the probability of some tenants struggling to pay rent as the economy slows. Aggressive interest rate cuts starting with at least 50 basis points next week will help ease affordability constraints, and go some way to reduce financing pressure on buy to let landlords. However, interest rates take time to filter their way through to the real economy with little hope of an immediate pick up in house prices despite the expectation of further monetary easing."