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Detached misery for homeowners

Jaimie Kanwar

The slowing property market is having a major impact on detached houses, according to new Government figures...

Owners of detached houses saw an average of £8,394 wiped off the value of their homes in four weeks late last year. This works out at £270 a day. The average price of a detached house dropped by 2.4 per cent in November, bringing misery to thousands of families who have recently paid a fortune for a new home.

The figures, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, showed that most types of houses were hit by the market downturn. The price of semi-detached houses dropped by 0.3 per cent, flats by 0.6 per cent and bungalows by 0.9 per cent in November.

Real concern for the future

Terraced houses escaped relatively unscathed, although prices rose by less than 0.1 per cent. Many victims of the housing downturn will be in the South-East, where the majority of detached homes are located. David Knight, mortgage analyst at Moneyfacts, the financial information firm, said: 'This more cautious approach of lenders starting to reduce their exposure to the property price fluctuations shows that they have a real concern over the future of the UK housing market.'

Richard Donnell, director of research at property information firm Hometrack, said potential buyers are in short supply. 'There has been a drop in the number of people registering with estate agents,' he went on. The rapid turnaround in market conditions means that asking prices will take a hit.'