Property Renovations Ely Ltd

According to the Nationwide Index the average price of a house now stands at £150,501 which is 1.3% lower than the £153,048 that it cost in December.

The annual rate of decline now stands at 16.6% which is worse than in December when it stood at 15.9%.

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Senior Economist, said: “The price of a typical house fell by a further 1.3% in January, as the deepening economic recession and financial market turbulence continued to weigh on housing market sentiment and activity. January’s decline leaves the average price of a typical house at £150,501, down 16.6% from 12 months ago. The 3-month on 3-month rate of change, a smoother indicator of the short-term trend in prices, improved for the fourth consecutive month from -4.2% in December to -4.0% in January. However, it is too early to say that this marks the start of a sustained improvement in the short term trend.

Property Renovations Ely Ltd

The Bank of England has cut interest rates to the lowest level in its 315-year history today

This would be the first time since the Bank was founded in 1694 that rates have fallen below 2%.

It comes as the Treasury denied reports it was planning to inject more money. Treasury sources said that while the move had not been ruled out, it was not currently on the agenda. Hetal Mehta, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said the Bank was facing “a balancing act”. “Six months ago, it was juggling slowing economic growth with soaring inflation,” she said. “But now the Bank has to tread a fine line between avoiding deflation and a further weakening of sterling, whilst doing all it can to soften the impact of the recession.”

Property Renovations Ely Ltd

We hope 2009 is a better year for homeowners. With mortgage availability still low, conditions are still challenging. However, experts predict a cheaper cost of living and a possible revival of the housing market - so there may be a ray of hope.

Interest rates are expected to be cut again this Thursday. As always, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know if they are.