The trend means that once more the property market has turned into a sellers market, with Nationwide figures showing that there has been an increase of over 8 percent in property prices over the past year fuelled by increased demand from buyers. The figures over the level of asking prices being reached with UK properties was released by the property company Hometrack.

Since the latter part of last year many industry groups and officials have been speaking about green shoots in the property market, with a number of signs of recovery in the field. Increased demand, rising property prices, and increased mortgage availability have all improved the outlook for the property market over recent months, although many are concerned over how long this might last and whether it is sustainable.

A statement from Hometrack read: ‘The proportion of the asking price has bounced back over the course of 2009 from a low of 88% in February 2009. This measure has now reached 93%, and is starting to plateau in the face of firmer pricing and reduced sales volumes.’

Another official said that things could be tricky for buyers wondering what sort of offer to put in, stating: ‘My tip would be to go in 10% below what you consider a fair price – but be realistic and don’t make it offensive – and then work up in small steps while letting the seller know you are serious.’

Properties selling at 93 percent of asking price is a post from: Glitec Loans

The latest survey from Nationwide has shown that in January of this year the average house price increased by 1.2 percent, and this took the annual rate up to 8.6 percent. This has pushed the annual rate of increase up to 8.6 percent.

The average property price in the UK has now increased to £163,481 as a result of the latest increase. The Land Registry also carried out a separate survey, which showed that annual changes in property values had shown an increase for the first time since May 2008.

Officials from the Nationwide have said that house prices have now been increasing for nine consecutive months, and with the rate of increase being at its fastest since October 2007. The lender said that the continuing increase in property prices had come as something of a surprise taking into account that the UK had been in such a long and deep recession of the past year.

The chief economist from the Nationwide stated: “House prices strengthened their upward momentum at the start of 2010, increasing by a seasonally adjusted 1.2% month-on-month in January. Unless there is a fall in property values in February, annual house price inflation is likely to move into double-digit territory next month for the first time since May 2007.”

Nationwide predicts good news for house prices is a post from: Glitec Loans

The figures relate to sales of properties in December of last year, with the figures showing that property sales reached a two year peak during the month.

The data was released by HM Revenue and Customs, and showed that during the month of December around 104,000 sales involving properties that were £40,000 or more in value were completed. This signifies the first time since December of 2007 that property sales have exceeded the 100,000 mark.

January of last year saw property sales reach their lowest level, when the number of sales for the month slumped to a paltry 41,000. This was the lowest level of monthly sales seen since records began back in 1977. Many industry officials have been surprised at how property prices and sales have picked up in the latter part of last year, but many are still predicting that both sales and prices of properties in the UK will remain pretty static over the course of this year.

Overall the number of properties sold last year came in at slightly lower than the year before, coming in at 848,000 compared to 920,000 in 2008. However, the difference between last year and 2007, when the property boom was still in full swing, was far greater with 1.62 million properties being sold in 2007.

Sales of properties reach highest levels in two years is a post from: Glitec Loans

Although first time buyers had access to a range of perks such as 100 percent and even 125 percent mortgages the high cost of properties coupled with high rates of interest made it impossible to get onto the property ladder for some.

When the property bubble burst a couple of years ago and house prices started to come down, many first time buyers may have thought that at last they had a chance to get their hands on a property and become a homeowners.

However, this was not to be. Just as property prices started to fall and the base interest rate hit an all time low of 0.5 percent lenders started to be far more stringent about giving out mortgages and started demanding far higher deposits from borrowers. With the 100 percent and 125 percent mortgages no longer available and lenders demanding extortionate deposits of 25 percent and even 40 percent in some cases many first time buyers had to once again put their dreams of homeownership on the back burner again.

However, for those that feel that they will never be able to get onto the property ladder because of high deposit levels or lack of mortgage availability there is one option that could prove to provide a helping hands. Shared ownership mortgages are a great help for many first time buyers as it allows them to get onto the property ladder one step at a time, and means that the process of buying a home becomes more manageable and more affordable.

With a shared ownership property you only have to take out a mortgage for the percentage of the property that you are buying. Some shared ownership properties offer 50 percent of the share, some offer 75 percent, some offer 25 percent, and so on.

If you are successful in getting the mortgage for the share that you are buying you then pay rent towards the remaining share to the appropriate housing association. However, the great thins is that you can slowly buy more shares – known as staircasing – as your situation improves. On the other hand, if you prefer you can continue to just own the share that you have taken the mortgage on and carry on renting the other share indefinitely.

With a shared ownership property you will only need a small mortgage depending on how much your share costs, and you could still end up with a really nice home. What’s more you will only need a small deposit because you will only be borrowing a small amount by way of a mortgage, and this can prove a real help.

You will find that many shared ownership properties are new build properties, so you could find yourself in a smart new home with all the mod cons. If you want to keep costs down further you could opt for a resale, which is where someone that had already bought a share of a property wants to sell their share on to another buyer.

Could shared ownership be the answer to your property dreams? is a post from: Glitec Loans

The warning came as the building society posted details of its profits, which have plunged by around 63 percent. Pre-tax profits for the building society were reported to be £117 million for the six months to September, and this compared to £322 million in the same period last year, reflecting a 63 percent drop.

According to reports the rock bottom base rate has resulted in a lower return on borrowing, which has affected the profits of the lender. In addition to this significant falls in commercial property values have also had a detrimental effect on profits, said the building society.

Graham Beale from the Nationwide said that 2010 was likely to bring continued challenges, and he expressed concern over the recovery of the property market in the UK.

Beale predicted that the current base interest rate, which has been at an all time low of just 0.5 percent for eight months, would remain at this level until at least the final quarter of next year.

He added that the recovery of the economy was likely to be slow and drawn out. Commenting on the recovery of the property market he said that house price increases seen recently had been the result of lack of supply, but that property values would be driven down next year due to rising unemployment and other factors.

He stated: ‘Economic recovery is forecast to be slow and we expect interest rates to remain at their current level until at least the fourth quarter of 2010. We are also cautious on future prospects for the housing market. The growth in house prices over recent months appears to be driven by lack of supply, and growth in unemployment throughout 2010 will inevitably exert downward pressure on house prices.’

Nationwide predicts downward spiral for house prices is a post from: Glitec Loans

The last time that property prices rose year on year was March 2008, so the recent figures amount to encouraging news in the property market. However, whilst property prices are now higher than the same period last year they are still over 13 percent lower than they were at their peak in 2007, just before the global credit crunch took a hold in the UK.

One industry official said: ‘A moderation in the rate of house price inflation was to be expected, as the very strong monthly increases seen over the summer months were unlikely to be sustainable over the long run. Slower house price inflation is also consistent with developments in housing market activity, as industry figures have shown that the pick-up in mortgage approvals for house purchases has lost some momentum in recent months.’

He added: ‘Although too early to tell for sure, it may also reflect a more natural level of stock available for sale coming to the market, alleviating some of the extreme shortages of property on the market seen during most of this year.’ Another industry expert said: ‘The stand-out symptom of the current property market is that stock levels are, in many cases, half of what they were in May. There is no sign on the horizon of more natural stock levels. As any buyer will know, there is very little choice out there at present. The ongoing rise in prices has been caused exclusively by the shortage of stock and growing demand, and the absence of new housing. With house prices higher than a year ago, now could be a window for sellers to achieve a price for their property that would have been unthinkable in the spring. Rising unemployment and, at some point, higher interest rates, could see a further stabilisation, or even reverse, in prices.’

Property prices see annual rise is a post from: Glitec Loans

Whilst some industry groups have said that property prices will continue increasing there are others that have said that there is no way that property prices will return to the levels that they were at before the bubble burst.

Over the past few months the property market has been given a helping hand by high demand and low supply, and according to reports in some areas properties are being sold through sealed bids within days of hitting the market as a result of supply being so low compared to demand.

However, despite this encouraging situation many experts are certain that the property market will not return to its boom days, and some groups expect house prices to continue falling next year.

One of the things that could affect the current situation is that an increasing number of homeowners may put their homes up for sale given the success of others, and this will increase supply.

One official said: “A lot of the improvement has been driven by supply being very tight, but there is evidence that people are beginning to react to the improvement in market conditions and are more inclined to have a go at selling their property.”

However, an economist from Global Insight said: “Despite further likely gains in the very near term, we suspect that house prices will be prone to significant relapses and will probably be no more than flat overall between now and the end of 2010. Much will clearly depend on whether the economy can sustain a probable return to growth in the third quarter, how much further unemployment rises, how quickly and to what extent credit conditions ease, and how many properties come on to the market over the coming months.”

Property prices will not return to levels seen previously is a post from: Glitec Loans

However, over the past few months there has been a slight revival in property prices, partly fuelled by increased demand and low supply, and whilst property prices are not back to the level that they were at their peak they are now back to the level that they were at around twelve months ago, according to reports.

The news that property prices were falling probably came as good news to many people that had been waiting in the wings to get onto the property ladder, but were unable to do so due to extortionate property prices in the UK.

However, despite the fall in house prices many first time buyers still cannot achieve their dream of homeownership because property prices are still too high. One industry official said that many first time buyers are not being approved for mortgage finance because property prices are still too high.

With the average property price at £160,000 the industry expert said that a couple would need to be earning £60,000 between them or a single person would have to be earning £50,000 to be able to get a mortgage.

He stated: “The majority of first-time buyers I come across, if it’s a couple, have said that they’re earning somewhere in the region of £45,000 between them. So, property is still expensive.”

Another problem that many first time buyers continue to have is raising an adequate deposit to be able to get an affordable mortgage, as some lenders are charging double the interest rate to those that have only a 10 percent deposit compared to those with larger deposits such as 40 percent.

Property still not affordable enough for first time buyers is a post from: Glitec Loans

Although property prices have been increasing slightly they are much lower now than they were at their peak in October of 2007.

However, officials have said that some homeowners are not doing themselves any favours when trying to sell because they are refusing to lower their property prices.

According to the report over one third of homeowners that are trying to sell their homes in the current difficult climate are refusing to lower their property asking prices, even though property prices are said to have fallen by around 20 percent since their peak and are now back at levels that were last seen in 2004.

The research was carried out by the Cooperative Bank, and officials from the bank said that many homeowners refuse to acknowledge just how deeply their property values have been affected.

The study revealed that around 35 percent of homeowners would refuse an offer that was below their asking price and would instead hold out for at least their asking price despite the current climate in the property market.

Officials also fear that reports on house price rises or a slowdown in house price falls will lead to an increasing number of property sellers refusing to budge on their asking price.

The report said that this rising trend amongst property sellers was leading to an increasing gap between what homeowners expect and what potential buyers are prepared to offer, as only 12 percent of respondents to the survey said that they would consider paying the full asking price for a property.

Many homeowners refuse to drop property prices is a post from: Glitec Loans

However, some industry officials have warned that this could be a temporary situation, and that it is too early to assume that the property market is improving because the property price increases may be unsustainable.

One recent report has claimed that the current revival in property prices in the UK cannot be sustained, adding that in 2010 property prices will fall by a further 7 percent.

Since February property prices are said to have increased by over 8 percent, but some industry experts have said that the house price increases will start to fall away towards the end of this year, and will start to fall over the course of next year.

One industry official said: ‘The unforeseen and seemingly irrational pick-up in prices has altered the outlook for UK house prices but it is likely that this recovery will prove temporary. The economic fundamentals that have supported the upturn, most notably the constrained supply of housing for sale, will be eroded as unemployment hits a peak and mortgage lending remains weak.’

He added: ‘While the recent improvement in the market is encouraging, it is impossible to ignore the short-term risks posed to the UK residential sector by rising unemployment and poor credit availability. We anticipate the current market revival to be unsustainable and predict a further contraction in prices during 2010 by -7%.’

Another official said, however, ‘Whilst some commentators believe that prices have further to fall, the increase in prices over the last four months tentatively suggests that the market has bottomed out and that we are slowly climbing out of the trough.’

Current property price increases ‘unsustainable’ is a post from: Glitec Loans