Thinking of buying or selling your house?

Estate agents, economists and the general punter try to guess what is going to happen in the stock market. It's almost a national hobby - and that's because during the booming years a lot of people made a lot of money relatively quickly and easily simply by moving house or by doing a bit of renovation. It was exciting and there were very few strings attached.

As we've all seen, house prices then crashed and they now seem to be slightly recovering with prices haven risen for the fourth month in a row and prices being 2% higher than this time last year, according to the latest survey by the Nationwide Building Society.

So, as a seller you may have been staying out of the market until the rut is over. Is the rut over? The short term rut seems to be over. But simply looking at the estate agent's calender, traditionally from November up til the end of January is a dead time for estate agents. Buyers are looking at buying Christmas presents instead of houses and in January they are recovering from spending sprees up to Christmas as well as making the most of the January sales. Buyers usually begin to start looking at houses again from February onwards.

However, estate agents generally do have interested buyers on their books. Buyers do not want to miss out on the relatively low prices, low interest rates plus mortgages are becoming more available. Over the next year the interest rates are expected to remain low to try to get the economy out of recession more easily.

However, house prices are not expected to rise quickly and more rises and falls are expected. Just look at the list of what's in the pot: rising unemployment, debt (both colossal government debt and household debt), interest rates which will eventually rise significantly taking mortgage rates with them, bad bank debts, spending cuts due in the public sector and corporate bankruptcies. Recovery, or a realignment of house prices, will take a long time.

As a seller the rut seems to be over and it might be a good idea to sell whilst interest rates are still low. Once they start to rise again, buyers may be put off buying again and then house prices may fall again. The experts are guessing and their views do not usually agree.

As a buyer, house prices are beginning to rise so it could be a good time to buy. Buying around Christmas is usually a good thing to do - sellers want a deal done before Christmas and so you might be able to get a lower price than you would otherwise. If houses are on the market at Christmas time it's worth checking with the agent (as always) how long it has been on the market - if it's been on a long time then you are likely to get a low price.

House prices are likely to go up and down slightly over the next year whilst interest rates are still low. When interest rates start to go up then that could effect house prices but by then the country might hopefully be out of recession and the economy will continue to recover rather than nose dive into a double-dipped recession. Other countries are coming out of recession which will in turn support the UK's economy to improve too.

Buying a house, a huge investment, is always a gamble. Sometimes you just need to sell and buy somewhere due to all the going-ons of life and if that is the case then make an effort to present your house at it's best. When you buy, choose wisely and get a good price.