| "You'd have to be either mad or a publicity seeker to predict what is going to happen to house prices." | |
| Mervyn King | June 2004 |
| "While house prices have certainly risen, as everybody knows, what is also the case is that people's debt servicing payments, mortgage payments as a share of their income are still far lower than they were 10 years ago." | |
| Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer | June 2004 |
| "Providing bank base rates remain below 5 per cent, present house price levels can be supported. We see house prices bumping along the plateau over the next 12 to 18 months." | |
| John Wriglesworth | August 2004 |
| "If you were not worried about the potential for an abrupt correction in UK house prices before today, you should be now." | |
| Malcolm Barr, after news of 20% monthly & annual falls in mortgage approvals | August 2004 |
| "There is clearly going to be a correction. How big it will be, Lord only knows." | |
| Derek Winder, UBS Bank | August 2004 |
| "Rising interest rates and reducing consumer confidence in the future health of the housing market have taket their toll for the third month running. Falling numbers of buyers, relative to the number of properties for sale, are increasing excess supply in the market, suggesting more house price falls over the coming months. We have reduced our house price forecast for 2004 to 3%, and expect 0% for 2005. The housing boom is well and truly over." | |
| John Wriglesworth | September 2004 |
| "Prices will be pretty much the same in 2007 as they are now. They may wobble around a bit, but we don't expect them to change very much." | |
| Douglas McWilliams, Chief Executive Centre for Economic and Business Research | September 2004 |
| "While prices are now expected to stagnate over the next 18 months, we still expect some months of price rises. We see the market bumping along a new equilibrium plateau. Interest rates are still at a historical low, unemployment is also very low and household incomes are rising strongly. Meanwhile lenders and falling over backwards to lend ever greater amounts of money relative to individual incomes. This suggests that the present high level of house prices can be maintained. We see no evidence pointing to a housing market crash over the coming year: stagnation or modest deflation depicts the future course of house prices." | |
| John Wriglesworth | September 2004 |
| ""...activity is still slightly higher than during much of the 1990s and in our view remains consistent with further modest house price growth."" | |
| Alex Bannister, Nationwide Economist | September 2004 |
| "House prices are likely to drop further over the next few months due to the current excess supply and the expected seasonal fall off in the number of prospective buyers." | |
| John Wriglesworth | October 2004 |
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