The credit crunch is seriously affecting the housing market, with prices dropping an average of 17.6% since this time last year.
The average price of a house in the UK in February last year was £179,358, it now stands at £147,746.
In February alone, house prices fell by almost 1.8%.
This is a very bad time for estate agents with an expected 15000 people to lose their jobs in this industry this year.
Despite this, online house search engines such as Rightmove and FindaProperty are experiencing dramatic increases in traffic and increased revenue.
This is due in part to individuals making more price comparisons of their local area to get estimations on the current worth of their property, also more speculative buyers looking for bargain basement properties, and also due to the big rise in rental.
Home owners who can’t sell up are renting instead. The sharp rise in the properties available for rental has created an oversupply in the market, leading to an overall drop in rental prices.
This area will have definite opportunities for growth during this period and I wait in earnest for the next developments on the web.
Glenn — April 2, 2009
I’ve actually been working quite closely with a UK based start-up using rails in this sector. While prices of houses might be depressed, I think it’s a really interesting time for the industry as a whole