NAEA urges consumers to look locally

Following the release of the Nationwide house price index today, Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the residential sales arm of the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP), said: "The report in question started at a period of time when the property market was experiencing phenomenal growth. It would have been impossible for the market to sustain the surge in house prices that it had been experiencing in the ‘boom' period. Despite, the Nationwide report revealing that the price of a typical house fell by 1.7% in July it is important to remember that the prices are on average £11,000 higher than three years ago.

"It is also pivotal to remember the report shows a national snapshot of the market which obviously can only tell part of any story. In order to gain a clearer picture there is a need to look regionally. We are already aware from our own members that house prices are being affected differently throughout the country so to see that the report showed an aggregate drop in house price comes as no surprise. However, there is a real need to keep this in perspective. The picture is mixed across the country and some areas will be more affected than others, so people really need to look to their local markets to get a true picture.

"Finally, there is no denying that the credit crunch has affected confidence in the market - but it is still important to remember that the underlying factors that support the property market remain: low unemployment, historically low interest rates and a pent-up demand for houses. Therefore, rather than a dramatic fall that some "doom and gloom" merchants are predicting, we should look towards the medium term where there are no reasons to suggest that prices of homes won't return to a more steady pace in the future."