Image by thinkpanama via Flickr

On Monday I published a blog saying that next time you read that prices are too high, rents too low, homes in short supply, a glut of housing …… look very carefully at who is telling you this, and why they are saying it. Look at the figures that they use to substantiate their argument, and how robust those figures are. No sooner had I published that blog than I came across a fabulous article which analyses in depth why the House Price Index from the Halifax differs from that published by the Nationwide. Guess what …….. you couldn’t make this up …….. they don’t really differ at all!

The Halifax & Nationwide seasonally adjusted February house price Indices differ by 1.2% but on closer analysis – the data and unadjusted figures from both banks are pretty identical for the month. What DOES differ is the seasonal adjustments made by the two sets of statisticians to make their figures “more accurate”. They start with the same raw data & then publish numbers which differ significantly!

The devil is in the detail and you do need to find out what has been done to any figures that you are going to use and rely on.

You can read the full article from The Mortgage Introducer