Estate agent bullish on city house prices

HOUSE prices in Swansea are unlikely to fall 25 per cent, according to a leading local estate agent.

John Francis director Trevor Carr was reacting to a forecast by the Nationwide Building Society which predicted the one quarter slump in prices across the UK.

He said: "The market is still pretty tough, but there are buyers still around.

"The sellers are starting to be more realistic. I think house prices may fall a little more, but I wouldn’t be as pessimistic as the Nationwide.

"They may fall a little more towards the end of the year and things should even themselves out a little more next year."

In Wales, the average number of transactions per surveyor fell again in August as a lack of mortgage finance continued to stifle the ability of buyers to access the market, said the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

The RICS house price balance in Wales improved slightly for the fourth consecutive month, but still remains at a significantly low level.

Some 82 per cent of chartered surveyors reported a fall than a rise in house prices, down from 83.1 per cent in July.

Mr Carr said the current downturn in the property market was "a sharper decline in activity than we have experienced before".

Latest repossession figures remain well below the levels seen in the early 1990s.

Director of RICS Wales, Cathy McLean, said: "A lack of mortgage liquidity is the key issue which is keeping the housing market from showing any real sign of recovery. While money is scarce, many will continue to be denied the next step on the property ladder.

"The Government’s stamp duty policy will not be enough to kick-start transactions.

"More needs to be done to reinvigorate a market which has suffered a severe knock to its confidence."

She said many homeowners were being forced to rent their properties while they waited for lending criteria to be loosened and demand to pick up.

She added: "The Government’s changes to stamp duty are more likely to assist buy-to-let investors with better access to finance than the first-time buyers it was aimed at."

A spokeswoman for Davies Craddock estate agents in Llanelli said: "If people continue to reduce, it may be that prices will come in line with what first-time buyers can afford.

"The problem is the lack of availability of mortgages. There is a dip in prices because of A lot of our sellers are deciding to reduce their prices, which is why the housing market is so quiet."

Sales adviser Greg Williams, of Alison George estate agents, said: "I would hope they are not going to drop another 25 per cent. Where would it stop?

"If people would have more confidence it wouldn’t have to drop any further."