Government interventions make house price falls less likely

The Government took further action to breathe life into the housing market in Budget 2013 by announcing a new Help-to-Buy scheme. Alongside the ongoing Funding for Lending Scheme, and with house prices showing slight gains at the start of the year, falls in prices now seem less likely. At the same time, the fundamentals still rule out significant gains. Taken together, we now expect house prices to remain flat both this year and next.