Well, after the hype about house prices last month, it would seem it's starting to slow down again, according to Halifax. Is this due to the economy still being far from stable? From more sellers putting their houses on the market? Or has it just been going that way for a while? Probably all three.
“There are hints in the latest Halifax data that the upward march in house prices since early 2009 could be starting to lose some legs and, while the Nationwide reported a larger increase in house prices in January itself, its survey had previously seen some signs of slowing momentum late in 2009," said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, the research group.
In fact, the growth in January was 0.6%, quite low compared to the six month average of 1.1% taking the average cost of a home in the UK up to £169,770. But is this something to get too upset about? Well, house prices have still been rising. This is the 7th month in a row that house prices have gone up. So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.