Motley Fool: Refusal to predict hints at further house price falls

Motley Fools Neil Faulkner has suggested that the Halifax, Nationwide and the Council of Mortgage Lenders refusal to publish this years annual forecast on house prices does not bode well.

He believes it is a sure-fire sign that the institutions believe house prices will continue to fall in 2009.

"I believe these organisations dont want to make predictions because they know that prices will fall further next year," he wrote.

"They are also confident that prices will fall a lot further.

"By announcing such a forecast to the national press and to television it might have become self-fulfilling, because more people will choose to hold off buying properties till prices reach the levels that are being forecast."

If house prices do fall it could mean that homeowners are forced to stay in their current properties until more favourable conditions return.

Those looking to increase the appeal of their home may even consider building a conservatory to benefit them in the meantime and make it more valuable when the time comes to sell.

According to figures released earlier this year by GE Money, adding a conservatory can add around 6.7 per cent to the value of a home.