New House Price Surveys Released

Two new house price surveys have been released, each showing a slightly different outlook for the UK property market.

Data released today by property research firm Hometrack shows a ninth consecutive monthly fall in house prices for June, while official figures from the Land Registry shows no change in the costs for May. According to Hometrack, the decline means that prices have dropped by 3.2 per cent year on year.

Commenting on the firm's findings, Richard Donnell said: "In the short term it seems inevitable that prices will continue to post modest falls until such time as confidence improves."

Meanwhile, the Land Registry figures found that the average UK house price remained at £183,000 last month. The survey also registers the annual housing inflation rate at 1.8 per cent. In London, the property market was found to be still healthier, with prices growing by 0.8 per cent over the month.

Overall, both the Hometrack and Land Registry surveys agree that there has been a big decline in the number of homes being sold in the UK market. According to the Land Registry, the number of completed sales in the UK fell from 106,000 to 53,000 in May 2007-May 2008, while Hometrack also detected a year-on-year drop of new buyer registrations of over 50 per cent.