House Prices Flat
27 / Jul / 2009
House prices in England and Wales were flat for a third consecutive month in July, causing the year-on-year decline to slow to 7.7% from 8.7%, property data company Hometrack said. However, a broad-based recovery in house prices was still a long way off, with rising unemployment and a shortage of mortgage finance standing in the way. Hometrack's monthly survey of estate agents' views of market conditions showed sellers were achieving an average of 91.5 percent of their asking price, up from 91.0 percent in June, and took an average of 9.0 weeks to sell, down from 9.4 weeks. Surveys of house prices by mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide have shown sharper annual falls, down 12.5 percent and 9.3 percent respectively in June, than Hometrack's report, but also some sharp one-off monthly increases in house prices.