Image: Gareth Fuller - PA Photos
At the end of a difficult year for the property market, the latest house price reports offer little Christmas cheer.
According to FindaProperty.com, prices have fallen for the second consecutive month, dropping by 0.5% in December following a 0.1% fall in November. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also reports that activity continued to slow in November, with house prices slipping further, and Nationwide said prices slid by 0.3%.
While a lull in the property market is usually expected in the run-up to Christmas, there are fears the outlook is not much brighter for next year, with many commentators predicting prices will continue to fall well into 2011.
See how the UK house prices are changing so far in 2011
Nigel Lewis, property analyst at FindaProperty.com, told MSN Money: "It is unlikely transactions will rise next year, and completion prices are likely to fall 3-5%, with a slow recovery predicted in 2012."
Martin Ellis, housing economist at the Halifax, told MSN Money that, although interest rates are likely to remain low for some time, tight mortgage finance availability, along with modest earnings growth, tax rises and significant public sector job losses will all curb the market - thereby dampening house prices.
But while all of this makes for rather gloomy reading, there are some parts of the UK where property prices could outperform the average and head upwards in 2011.
Here we take a look at five places where prices are likely to fall the most next year and five areas where we could see the biggest price growth.
We'll start with the fallers.
