House prices remain ‘stable’

UK house prices are “very stable”, Halifax has said, despite values slipping in July.

The average price of UK property fell by just 0.6 per cent last month, according to the lender’s House Price Index, but follows two consecutive months of growth.

Indeed, so far this year there have been three monthly dips but that has been countered by four monthly increases as prices fluctuate, but remain broadly stable and positive.

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Across the three months to July, house prices in the UK remained unchanged from the preceding quarter; an improvement on June, when quarterly measures showed an overall decrease of around 0.3 per cent.

In fact, on a wider scale, prices are faring even better.

Average prices in July 2012 are now 0.8 per cent higher than December 2011, with national average values at levels similar to summer 2009.

Prices in the three months to July were 0.6 lower than the same period in 2011.

However, this is an improvement upon last year, when prices were falling at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent.

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Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said: “The underlying trend in house prices was flat in the three months to July compared with the previous three months.

“At a national level, house prices have been very stable over the past 12 months or so.

“This can largely be explained by the static nature of supply and demand conditions during this period.

“Looking forward, we expect little change in prices over the remainder of 2012 so long as the economic climate in the UK does not worsen substantially.”