Market 'set for soft landing'

The housing market will not see a sharp drop off in prices, but rather a slow descent into single figure growth, Rightmove has predicted.

The property portal's managing director Ed Williams, speaking to the Times, said that the current slower growth levels being reported were "typical" of the housing cycle.

The London market has been propping up the wider sector for the past 12 months, Mr Williams added.

"There is a slowdown in the housing market, but it's something we do not believe is anything like as traumatic as in some reports," he told the newspaper.

"It has been slowing down in areas outside of London for a year, so it's a typical soft landing," the MD added.

Figures from Nationwide released last month support such assertions, showing that the annual rate of price inflation fell from 9.9 per cent in July to 9.6 per cent in August, though growth in the month rose slightly from 0.1 per cent to 0.6 per cent.


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