Is the property market static in your area? Photograph: Graham Turner
All this week on the site we've been taking a close-up look at what's going on in property markets around the UK. While the latest house price survey found prices were still on the up, over the past few weeks the growing consensus is that we're at the start of a slowdown.
Certainly the signs are there in some of the areas we've looked at this week. In Belfast, the buy-to-letters are apparently pulling out and agents are warning of price falls of at least 10%; while in Glasgow buyer enquiries are down and prices are levelling off.
A number of factors are at play around the country. In Birmingham, agents blame a recent price fall on rising interest rates, home information packs and an oversupply of flats when what the market really wants is houses. In Glasgow, as well as interest rate rises the finger is pointed at the IMF and Northern Rock for denting the confidence of potential buyers.
But for most of the areas we looked at, hints of a slowdown follow a long period of bumper growth. In some cities, this has just brought low prices in line with the national average, but in others property values have burst through that barrier and carried on rising - leaving disappointed first-time buyers in their wake. With no newcomers to fuel the market it seems prices must start to slow down in these areas.
So are these cities a microcosm for the rest of the UK, or are they special cases? Do they echo your experiences of the market in your area?
