U.K. Home Values Gained in November, Hometrack Says

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) – U.K. house pricesrose for a fourth month in November as the shortage of homes for sale sustained the property market, Hometrack Ltd. said.

The average cost of a home in England and Wales climbed 0.2 percent from October to 156,700 pounds ($258,000), the London- based property-research company said in a statement today. Prices are down 11 percent from the 2007 peak. A separate report showed consumer confidence fell for the first time this year.

“It is easy to see how agents are beginning to feel more confident about sustainable pricing levels — at least in the short term,” Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s director of research, said in the statement. “A decline in demand is inevitable in the run up to Christmas but there are signs that the upward pressure on prices is likely to decline in the months ahead.”

While U.K. mortgage data today showed loan approvals jumped to the highest level since March 2008, rising unemployment may curb house price increases next year. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said last week that the economy’s recovery from the longest recession on record isn’t “particularly strong.”

The pound rose today by 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.6519 as of 10:55 a.m. in London. The yield on the two-year government bond fell 3 basis points to 1.15 percent.

Survey Data

Hometrack’s data is based on a survey of real-estate agents and surveyors, incorporating 6,185 responses for October. House prices fell 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the report showed.

“London and the Southeast have consistently seen the largest number of postcodes registering price rises,” Donnell said. “In five regions less than 20 percent of the market has registered any price rise.” more