House prices stall in June

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by Gill Montia

House price growth stalled in June as prices in England and Wales stood still after three consecutive monthly rises.

According to Hometrack, London was the only region to register an increase (+0.3%), although the overall annual rate of decline eased to -0.5%, compared with -0.6% in May and -1.6% at the start of 2012.

Taking a closer look at price trends, the survey reveals that prices fell across 23% of English and Welsh regions in June, with the number of regions afflicted almost doubling compared to April and May.

The increase was largely seen in southern regions outside London – in March just 10% of the south east registered price falls, compared with 26% in June.

In the south west the proportion grew from 2% to 32% over the same period, while East Anglia saw a shift from 11% to 30%.

Turning to new buyer registrations, the market saw an 0.5% decline in June, with economic uncertainty and the summer slowdown the major influences.

At the same time, the supply of homes for sale edged up once again and is likely to continue to do so, Hometrack suggests, putting further downward pressure on prices.

Summing up the market, the housing intelligence firm comments: “What is becoming clearer from the survey is that the impetus for price growth in regions outside London is starting to fade on weaker demand.”

Adding: “The over-riding story from the 1,500 respondents to the survey is of a fragile, lacklustre housing market where buyers remain concerned by the UK economy and wider Eurozone.”