Housing market set to stay flat

摘要

There is no shortage of statistics on the housing market but historical analysis suggests how the picture may develop over the next few years. Having fallen by about 20 per cent in the recession, house prices rose slightly during 2009 but fell back again in 2010 as credit conditions remained tight. These persisting tight credit conditions, most obviously in the first-time buyer market, have naturally contributed to a sustained period of unusually low levels of housing market activity, with the number of housing transactions consistently remaining well below any reasonable estimate of trend.