House price forecasts 'are futile'

Published:
24 September 2008
Topic:
News,Money,Mortgages

The trade body for mortgage lenders has said that uncertainty in the housing market means it is abandoning attempts to predict house price falls for this year.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said forecasts were "futile" in the current market and admitted that its prediction in May that house prices would drop by 7% in 2008 had clearly "underestimated the extent to which property values are set to adjust".

It said that there was much uncertainty about the future availability and cost of mortgage funding, fuelled in part by the widespread turmoil in the financial markets.

"Market forecasting is problematic at the best of times but, in the aftermath of all the recent uncertainty, trying to predict accurately how the housing market will perform in the coming months is even more difficult than usual," the group said.

It added that it would be "futile" to try to update its forecasts at this stage of the year.

Copyright © PA Business 2008

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