Nationwide says prices “surprisingly resilient” this year given economic gloom

UK house prices remained relatively flat in 2011 with a similar story expected in 2012, according to the Nationwide building society.
Nationwide said that the average home rose in value by 1% in 2011, but fell by 0.2% in December compared with the previous month.
The outlook is expected to remain the same next year due to the economic climate, the building society said.
However, there were sharp differences across the country with prices in Northern Ireland falling sharply in 2011 but rising relatively strongly in London.
“The 1% rise in house prices recorded over the past 12 months could hardly be described as a strong performance, but against a backdrop of anaemic economic growth and a deteriorating labour market, UK house prices were surprisingly resilient in 2011,” said Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner.
“2012 is not shaping up to be much better than 2011 for the UK economy or the housing market.”

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