On Wednesday prospective house buyers would be excused for getting quite excited as the prospect of getting onto the housing ladder is slowly getting more of a reality than a fantasy (If you have a large deposit and a good credit history!). The Nationwide House Price Survey reported that house prices dropped by 1.7% in July. It made the price of an average home £169,316, which is just under £15,000 cheaper than in the same month last year, however prices are still £11,000 higher than 3 years ago. With a weakening economy and poor sentiment in the housing market it is a sure sign that the market isn’t going to recover quickly and it could be a long drawn out process. Don’t worry though, if you can wait until 2013 to sell your house the National Housing Federation said it was expecting prices to have risen 25% by then. We are thin on the ground again for data this week with just manufacturing and industrial output on Tuesday and The Bank of England Base Rate decision on Thursday. Don’t expect any surprises!