January sees further rise in residential property values

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) says that the new decade got off to a positive start for both landlords and home-owners with a stake in the real estate sector, as the month of January continued a six month stretch of increases in residential property prices. Home values in England and Wales rose by a very modest 0.1% in January, but this signals the continuation of a trend from August 2009, when prices started to show clear signs of increase. As such, the price of an average home in England now stands at £157,100. While this represents an increase from figures released in summer 2009, prices did drop by 0.8% if examined from a 12 month perspective.

While the news of six months worth of increases is undoubtedly positive, some are concerned that a small handful of very well performing regions in the UK may be skewing the overall, national statistics. For example, Richard Donnell of Hometrack argues that it is impossible to predict with any certainty if these increases will continue for the rest of 2010, mainly because skewed statistics might "overstate" the scope of the recovery in the housing sector. There is a chance that weaker demand for homes may negatively impact prices later this year.

But other organizations are more positive about Britain\\\'s outlook and some have measured higher rates of increase in values. For example, the Nationwide Building Society found that values grew by 1.2% in January alone, representing the highest rate of increase in five months.