London supports housing market in '07 - papers 14 December

Prices in the capital are expected to rise 10% next year, underpinned by City bonuses, although the biggest gains are expected in Northern Ireland with a 12% rise earmarked. Elsewhere, house prices in northern and central England are expected to rise more modestly, by around 3% to 4%. Nationwide's last monthly house price survey showed prices across the country rose by 9.6% on average in November but Fionnuala Earley, group economist at Nationwide, says “increasingly poor affordability and likely cutbacks at the Bank of Mum and Dad will cause the rate of house price growth to move back in...