Property prices affected by Hips

Three-month-on-three-month property price inflation fell in October, according to the latest Rightmove House Price Index.

[UKPRwire, Fri Oct 19 2007] Inflation fell from 1.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent, taking it to it lowest level seen since 2005 and spelling bad news if you are looking for someone to buy your property.

Overall average asking prices actually rose slightly but Rightmove says that this is largely down to the introduction of Home information packs (Hips).

With many potential sellers eager not to fork out around £300 for one of the packs, it seems that many people tried to make a quick sell.

Chris Newman of National Homebuyers, the UK's leading quick property sale company says, "Hips along with interest rate rises, the credit crunch, lack of buyers and dubious lending practices are bad news for the homeowner.

"The distortion of the market by the introduction of Hips will be replicated again later this year as the legislation is rolled out.

"Again, as people rush to put their properties on the market, there will be an increase in the volume of properties while the number of buyers is rapidly diminishing.

"Homesellers are in for a rough ride".

Mr Newman is a Director of National Homebuyers, the UK's leading quick property sale firm that guarantees to make a quick cash offer on any property in the UK for vendors who need a fast property sale.

Rightmove points out that there was a noticeable increase in the number of three-bedroom properties appearing on the market, as sellers scrambled to beat the September 10th deadline.

"Legislative tinkering involving future cut off dates has a history of unbalancing markets," said Miles Shipside, commercial director of the firm.

"In a stable market this presents fewer dangers, but in today's more sensitive financial environment the effects can be more exaggerated," he added.

Hips became a mandatory part of the home-selling process for three-bedroom properties on September 10th after an initial rollout to larger houses on August 1st.

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