Housing market still healthy, despite interest rate raise
Added: (Tue Sep 05 2006)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Housing sales seem to be staying strong with the news that sales transactions were up 11 per cent this August, according to figures released by Your Move.
August is traditionally regarded as a quieter month on the basis that more people are enjoying their summer holidays, rather than viewing properties, according to analysts' figures.
David Newnes, managing director of estate agent Your Move has stated that the figure shows people have remained undeterred by the Bank of England's monetary policy committee's decision to raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage points at the beginning of August.
He added that the MPC's decision had originally generated concerns "about its potential impact on housing market confidence".
But so far Mr Newnes states that homebuyers do not appear to be put off by rising costs, although it may bring other additional expense, such as an increase in home insurance premiums, as the value of the property grows.
The price of houses is rising at a rate three times the amount they were at the same time last year, according to figures released by Nationwide.