House prices in England and Wales fell for the first time in 15 months in July, causing the the annual rate to weaken, not seen in over a year, property data company Hometrack said on Monday. It said talk of public spending cuts had taken its toll on confidence, leading to 1.3 percent fewer new buyers registering with estate agents. The number of houses being put up for sale continued to rise, however. Hometrack's director of research, Richard Donnell, said the monthly drop marked a turning point for the housing market, and warned more falls were likely. Hometrack's survey of estate agents and surveyors showed an average fall of 0.1 percent in house prices in July, the first fall since April 2009. That pushed the year-on-year rate down to 2.0 percent from 2.1 percent in June, the first time that measure has slipped since March 2009. Hometrack has consistently shown smaller price falls and rises than surveys by mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide and actual price changes recorded in official government Land Registry data. However, the thrust of the data chimes with other indicators which suggest a year-long recovery in house prices has started to run out of steam.