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The UK housing market has settled into a slump as house prices fell for
the 10th month in a row, dropping 1.2% in July, according to property
market watcher Hometrack.
Hometrack figures show July’s price drop has wiped £2,000 from the
value of the average UK house which now stands at £168,500. Over the
last year about 4% has been knocked off house prices which is equal to about £7,800
from this time last year when the average house price was £176,300.
Hometrack said every test of activity in the
UK market showed that the
slowdown was now gathering pace.
‘Indicators of market activity across the housing market
remain weak with the survey highlighting a 20% drop in demand over
the last three months,’ said Richard Donnell, director of research at
Hometrack. ‘Transaction volumes have been the greatest casualty of the
decline in demand over the last 12 months, the vast majority of
homeowners simply do not need to move at the moment.’
The time it takes to sell a property jumped by almost a week to an
average of 11 weeks, rising from 10.3 weeks in June. Homeowners pushing
for a quick sale have had to accept just 90.9% of their asking price
falling from 91.6% last month.
Donnell said ">recent
price falls have been concentrated in southern
England. Despite this the survey revealed prices fell across 64.9%
of the country compared with 58.9% in June.
‘The majority of recent price falls have been concentrated
more in southern England where prices have declined off a relatively
high base after the strong growth through 2006 and the first half of
2007,’ said Donnell.
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