The UK housing market can be unpredictable at the best of times so it is best to study it closely if you are looking for a quick house sale. This being an election year, it would be especially hard to predict which way the price barometer will go, but all indications are that that there could be a slump in prices.

So if you are planning to sell your house you may have to rethink your decision and wait for upward movement in the market. Of course, if you are selling for reasons you cannot control, be prepared to accept a lower price than you expected.

Experts who study the UK housing market all agree on one thing, there will be no rise in prices of houses in the UK this year which will dash the hopes of many hoping to make a quick house sale at a profit. While some predict prices will remain flat with no rise or fall either way, others predict a drop of as much as seven percent.

While prices appeared buoyant in the beginning of the year, once the elections were over, prices started to fall and that trend is likely to continue for the rest of the year. If you are planning to sell, wait till maybe next year but if you are buyer, seize the opportunity.

The latest National Housing Federation (NHF) figures revealed that up to three million people could be stuck in overcrowded housing. The NHF also forsees a 20% rise in the number of families having to occupy an overcrowded house by 2013. This represents a rise from 2.5m to just over 3.04m.

As for the reason for the shortage of housing, the NHF claimed the reduction in house-building was responsible for the problem. If that is the case then it’s no surprise, when you consider that only 123,000 homes were built over the last 12 months, that’s ­ the lowest figure for 87 years. At the last count, a record 4.5 million people in England are on housing waiting lists.