House prices won't crash, the results of a new survey suggest.
A house price crash in Britain is unlikely, new figures from property firm Assetz shows.
Monthly data for April found that annual price inflation stands at 1.7 per cent, which is down slightly from 3.6 per cent in March. According to the results, the average UK house price now stands at £211,014 after a 0.6 per cent monthly drop.
Longer-term analysis of the survey also suggests that the housing market is now levelling-off after a slump earlier in 2008 rather than suffering a downturn. Prices have fallen by £4,015 per cent over the past six months overall; however, the average price has increased by £2,279 over the past year.
Assetz chief executive Stuart Law commented: "While house prices fell by 0.6 per cent in April, prices remain up on the previous year and I am yet to see any firm evidence of a housing market crash."
The property firm derives its monthly results by compiling five major house price indices from mortgage lenders and other firms covering the whole of the UK.
Fears of a housing crash have been stoked by recent analysis from the International Monetary Fund, which suggests that property stock in Britain is "overpriced" by as much as 30 per cent.
A "best case scenario" discovered by reporters in notes carried by housing secretary Caroline Flint to a cabinet meeting last week also predicted a ten per cent decline before the end of the year.
As a rule, drops in house prices generally make mortgages more difficult to secure.
