Property for sale: Do house prices predict a property CRASH like 2007? Experts reveal all

• House prices of property for sale in recent months have increased, according to an ONS report
• However, experts have predicted a property crash over the past few months
• Can UK homeowners expect to see a crash like that of 2007?

House prices were up by 5.1 per cent in the year to July and the annual growth rate has remained broadly around 5 per cent during 2017. 

The highest annual house price growth was in the East Midlands, at 7.5 per cent, while the slowest annual growth was in London, at 2.8 per cent, in the 12 months to July. 

So what do the figures, which came from the latest data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), mean?

One expert has claimed the findings could mean the UK will avoid the property crash that others have been predicting for months. 

Founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, claimed Britons have narrowly escaped the doldrums of a housing value crash.

She said: “Although the market has taken a wobble, UK homeowners should rest assured that the worst is now behind them and we won’t be seeing a repeat of the 2007 crash.

"This latest index provides the most compelling evidence yet that the UK property market has been able to shake off the woes of the previous year and snap election, to see positive growth during the summer months.”

What is more, Mr Quirk believes that Brexit will probably not have a negative impact on the UK housing market going forwards.

He added: “A sustained level of growth can now be expected and it is unlikely that any further developments in the Brexit process should dampen this.”

He said: “The rate of growth during this period is higher than previously reported by Halifax and Nationwide, which is impressive given that this price data usually lags slightly behind other industry sources that base their figures on mortgage approvals rather than sales completions.”

Despite these figures, it was claimed at the beginning of this month that house prices for over a third of properties in the UK have fallen drastically.

According to the figures from property website Zoopla, 34.08 per cent of properties on the market have had their asking prices reduced.

The news comes after experts warned that a property crash could see prices of property for sale could plummet to £70,000.

Experts have warned that government needs to cut stamp duty to prevent the UK property market from hitting a “crisis point.”

Paul Smith, CEO of haart, the UK’s largest independent estate agent, comments on today’s ONS House Price Index: “Along with consumer price hikes and falling wage growth, unaffordability is reaching a crisis point.