According to the Land Registry, house prices in January were down by 15.1% since the same time last year. Every region in England and Wales has seen property prices fall by at least 12% in the last year. Buyers are waiting until they see that the market has bottomed out, and with the waiting, house prices are expected to continue falling for the next few months. There are however signs that the freefall may be easing and soon may have reached the bottom.

Mortgage availability is beginning to see change. In January, mortgage approvals held steady at 31,000. Although this is half of what it was last year, they have averaged 31,000 for the last six months. Mortgage lenders typically want a deposit of 20% of the purchase price which is a hefty sum to secure. Saving for a deposit takes time and in this time house prices fall. However, Northern Rock will soon begin to offer some 90% mortgages. The Bank of England is expected to lower base rates again and is also likely to increase the amount of money in the British economy, both of which will improve the supply of funds for mortgages.

The current low interest rates, although will not lead to a sudden housing market revival, do make loans more affordable which will be another positive support for both new and existing borrowers. According to Halifax, mortgage payments have fallen from 31% of gross earnings for a new borrower in the first half of 2008 to an estimated 21% in January 2009. The house price to average earnings ratio has decreased to an estimated 4.48 in December 2008 from a peak of 5.84 in July 2007; a fall of 23%. The long-term average is 4.0. Potential buyers are noticing the opportunity: according to the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors enquiries from new buyers rose in January 2009 for the third successive month.

Of course, there continues to be pressure on incomes with rising unemployment and the negative impact of the turbulent financial markets on the availability of mortgage finance, but the update is that there are signs that the freefall on house prices and drought of mortgage availability is easing. As such, it could be wise to buy before house prices reach bottom as with low prices, low interest rates and increased mortgage availability an eventual recovering economy could bring house prices to rebound sharply.

With house prices falling in a number of global locations, the UK property market has been bucking the trend. How much longer will this “economic miracle” continue.

Indeed, wading through the plethora of housing statistics that are produced by a diverse set of UK organisations, it’s clear that UK property prices have been rising for more than a decade. In the past year alone, the average price of a UK property has risen in value by around 10%.

This property boom has been driven by a number of factors – the UK has historically low unemployment figures, with interest rates having been at low levels for much of the past ten years.

The cost of borrowing has been low, while banks, building societies and other mortgage lenders have all been keen to lend money to potential home-owners.

The property market has also seen a transition – gone are the days when the majority of buyers were simply looking for a home. Now, everyone’s looking for an investment.

Such has been the performance of the UK property market that some have even started to look at property as a means of providing for their pensions. Across the country people are snapping up properties and then renting them out.

The plan is to make money from the rental incomes, while also seeing the properties rise in value. The buy-to-let phenomenon has arrived and has been keeping the market buoyant.

Recent months have seen some warning signs appear. Darker clouds hover, in the shape of rising interest rates.

As the UK has developed a debt culture, inflation has started to rise and economists are keen to see it kept under control. The result has been some sharp increases in interest rates.

All of a sudden, the cost of borrowing is rising. Making a profit from buy-to-let, at least in the short-term, could become more difficult. There is even hushed talk of a house price crash, last witnessed almost 20 years ago.

The future of the UK property market looks far less certain.