House Prices

Scottish house prices continue to increase at a modest rate but the volumes of transactions has fallen by 27 per cent, according to the latest Scottish House Price Monitor from Lloyds TSB Scotland.

House prices fell by 1.7% in July, according to the Halifax House Price Index. This was smaller than the falls in both the previous two months - May (-2.5%) and June (-1.9%).

Prices for prime central London residential property have fell by 1.6% in July, the third consecutive month of price falls, according to the Knight Frank Prime Central London Index.

The price of a typical house fell by 1.7% in July, bringing the annual fall to 8.1%, according to the Nationwide Building Society. This brings the average price to £169,316, almost £15,000 less than this time last year and its lowest level since August 2006.

Falling house prices may result in falling rates of divorce, new data from Savills Research has shown. The slowdown in the economy has put pressure on many households, though struggling couples may choose not to divorce because they will have less equity in their property to share upon separation.

Average house prices in England and Wales fell one per cent in June, taking the average price to £180,781, according to the latest figures from Land Registry.

Two-thirds (67%) of market towns have a higher average house price than the neighbouring towns in their county, according to the Halifax Market Town Review.

Middle Britain homeowners face a ‘peak-to-trough' crash in house prices over the next six months as some £40,000 is wiped off the value of their homes before the year is out, according to a new report.

UK house prices fell by 2.0% in June compared to 2.5% in May, according to the Halifax House Price Index.

The majority of estate agents (61 per cent) believe that average house prices in the UK will stop falling within 12 months, according to new research from Abbey Mortgages.

As the effect of falling house prices continues to be debated, analysis from GE Money Home Lending, one of the UK's leading specialist lenders, reveals the extent to which house prices would actually have to drop for average borrowers, who purchased a property over the past 13 years, to suffer negative equity.

House prices fell by 0.9% during June, less than half of the rate of the 2.5% fall recorded in May, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

The value of prime central London property fell by 5.5% in the second quarter of 2008. This follows two quarters of less severe falls, bringing the total fall since the peak of summer of 2007 to 9.0%.

Average house prices in England and Wales remained flat in May, showing no monthly change at £183,266, according to the latest figures from Land Registry.

Three quarters of people expect property prices to fall over the next twelve months according to the first quarterly Price Tracker survey by the Building Societies Association (BSA).

The balance of Chartered Surveyors reporting house price falls decreased slightly in May but the average number of transactions per surveyor fell further, says the latest RICS' UK housing market.

Prices for prime central London residential property fell by 1.5% in May - the fastest rate of decline since the early 1990s, according to the Knight Frank Prime Central London Index.

House prices fell by 2.4% in May, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. Prices were 3.8% lower on an annual basis.

Annual house prices in England and Wales decreased from 3.6 per cent in March to 2.7 per cent in April, taking the average to £183,626, according to the latest figures from Land Registry.

Commenting on Nationwide house price figures, David Stubbs, RICS senior economist said: "The difficulties in the mortgage market are stretching accessibility and threaten to reduce transaction levels by 40% this year.

Following the release of the Nationwide house price index today, Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the residential sales arm of the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP), said:

House prices fell by 2.5% during May, the largest recorded monthly fall since 1991, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

The balance of Chartered Surveyors reporting house price falls increased even further but tight supply is limiting the extent of the decline, says RICS’ UK housing market survey.

First time buyers are forcing down property values, according to independent financial website Moneyextra.com.

Prices for housing in prime central London housing market remained unchanged in April with a barely discernable growth rate of 0.1%, according to Knight Frank.