Nationwide says prices may change little in 2010 UK house prices rose by 5.9% in 2009, making some recovery from the massive falls seen last year, the Nationwide building society has said.The rise in prices seen this year compared with a sharp fall of 15.9% in 2008, the lender said. The average cost of a home went up for the eighth month in a row in December, rising 0.4% to £162,103. However, the Nationwide predicted that prices would change little over the coming year. "This year's recovery has to some extent been driven by transitory factors and there are reasons to believe that it will lose momentum over the coming year," said Martin Gahbauer, the Nationwide's chief economist. "At the same time, there is no obvious catalyst on the near-term horizon that would trigger significant renewed falls in prices, such as a sharp spike in interest rates." SurpriseMr Gahbauer admitted that the past year's price increases had taken everyone by surprise. At this stage, it seems likely that 2010 will see no significant house price movements in either direction Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide "Few could have foreseen this development at the start of the year, when the near-term price trend was still pointing to a repeat of the double-digit annual decline experienced in 2008," he said.[Read more...]