UK Money Market

Olympics, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, double dip recession, and Eurozone problems – one thing is certain, it’s not going to be an easy year. According to the Centre for Economics and Business research Centre, the UK is likely to hit a 'temporary recession' this year. All across Britain, households will be faced with a hard year financially and unfortunate unemployment figures coupled with meagre wage increases only makes things worse.

According to the Nationwide Building Society, house prices rose 1% throughout 2011. Although prices actually dropped 0.2% for December, the year as a whole saw the average house price increase marginally to £165,798. Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner remarked “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”.