MacroScope

The outlook for the UK housing market has darkened again. The usually optimistic bunch of property market watchers polled by Reuters, who have tended to predict ever-rising property prices no matter what the season or financial climate, now say the market will move sideways for the next two years.

They say that in the next few months, the small double-dip in prices that has begun will continue. Modest gains predicted less than three months ago for this year and next essentially have been wiped away.

No one should be surprised by this.  It smacks of an awakening to reality more than a slight change to a few variables in the statistical model. What’s perhaps most striking about these new poll results is that economists think houses are even more overvalued now than they were in July even after a few straight months of falls.

The poll found the proportion of property market watchers who expect a double-dip in prices has swung to a three-quarters majority from about one in four minority in July. As polls go, that is a big shift in sentiment in a very short period of time. The consensus points to a 5 percent fall from here on top of the 1.4 percent fall over the last two months, but the forecast range goes as far down as 22.5 percent from here.

That tallies with anecdotal evidence. A friend who is heavily invested in London property says he’s having trouble selling and says a 15-20 percent fall in the market is likely.

MacroScope is pleased to post the following from guest blogger Simon Ward. Simon is chief economist of Henderson Global Investors in London and previously worked for New Star Asset Management and Lombard Street Research. His own blog is Money Moves Markets.

UK house prices are no longer expensive relative to a measure of “fair value” based on rents. Prices fell significantly below fair value during the major house price busts in the 1970s and 1990s but a big undershoot is unlikely in the current downturn because low interest rates will limit forced selling.

The notion that housing is no longer overvalued is controversial because the house price to income ratio remains far above its average since 1965. This average, however, is unlikely to be a good guide to fair value because the ratio has trended higher over time, reflecting factors such as improving quality, the pressure of an expanding population on constrained supply and a high income elasticity of demand for housing.