1m homes for sale

A report from the property website Rightmove shows a record 1,000,000 homes are currently for sale in England and Wales. The same report also shows that the average house price has dropped by £3,000 between May 11 and June 14 - a drop of 1.2%.

The report's figures are seen as a sign of panic selling to stave off massive losses; people selling and hoping to invest the cash for now and buy cheaper in the future and people selling to take advantage of cut priced new properties.

Halifax House Prices Down

The Halifax has reported that the price of an average home dropped by 2.4% or £4,600 in May - down to £184,111. It compares very badly to the 10.6% rise in house prices experienced in the year ending last May. This means that the average home has lost £15,000 in value since the market peaked last August - down 8% since prices peaked at £199,600.

Comparing the index's average monthly prices shows an average house is worth £12,525 less than the May 2007 value of £196,636 - a drop of 6.4%.

Economist Howard Archer, of analysts Global Insight, predicted prices would fall by 12% in both 2008 and 2009, revising an earlier forecast of 7% this year and 9% next year.

Archer said: 'The latest data on the housing market are undeniably alarming. Clearly, the downward pressure on house prices coming from stretched buyer affordability and tight lending conditions is now biting hard.

'Elevated affordability pressures on potential house buyers stem from high house prices and modest real disposable income growth, while ongoing tight credit conditions are leading to significantly fewer and more expensive mortgages being available.

'Furthermore, potential house buyers now have to provide higher deposit levels, which is a particularly major problem for first-time buyers.'

House prices dive

The Nationwide Building Society has reported that house prices have fallen 2.5% during May, which is the biggest fall ever reported by the Building Society since it started creating reports back in January 1991.

This takes the run of months in which house prices have dropped up to 7 months, the longest continuous run of house price falls since 1992. This leaves house prices down 4.4% on what they were this time last year, the biggest annual fall also since 1992.

This brings the price of an average house in Britain to £173,583 - a fall of almost £5000 over the month and £8000 over the year. But even with these falls house prices are still up 5% over the last 2 years and 10% over the last 3 years.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at Global Insight, said: 'The plunge in house prices in May is a real shock, and will fuel concern that we are now headed for a sharp correction.

'The downward pressure on house prices coming from stretched buyer affordability and tight lending conditions is increasingly biting. It now looks more likely than not that house prices will suffer double-digit falls both this year and in 2009.

'Clearly, a sharp housing-market correction would add to the already serious risks to economic growth, particularly through weighing down on consumer spending.'

More house price falls

A report revealed today that house prices in England and Wales have fallen for the 8th month in a row. The report from Hometrack showed an average fall of 0.5% over May, following a fall of 0.6% in April. Looking at a year on year basis, the annual house price growth rate fell from 0.9% to a drop of 1.9% - the lowest level recorded since Novermber 2005, when a drop of 2.5% was recorded.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research said: 'What we referred to last month as the 'buyer's strike' continues with a 6.7% drop in the number of buyers registering with agents over May.'

'It is too early to say whether the level of monthly falls will now start to moderate as this will require an improvement in demand and sales agreed which are both linked to overall buyer confidence.'

'The current trends in the survey indicate that pricing looks set to remain under downward pressure over the coming months.'

The report also reveals an increase in the time taken to sell a house. This is now 9.8 weeks, up by 3 weeks over the last year. This follows a repositioning last week by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, who changed their forecast of a 1% growth in property prices to a 7% fall combined with a 35% decrease in property sales this year.

House sales could collapse by 40%

The latest survey from RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) has revealed that house sales could collapse by 40% this year.

The impact of this would hit the economy, as firms providing services to movers struggle for sales - such as carpet retailers, white goods, DIY stores etc. RICS warned the number of house sales could plunge by around 400,000 to approximately 600,000 with the second half of the year bein a 'difficult period for the housing market'.

Whilst a collapse of the housig market might be seen as good news for first time buyers trying to get onto the property ladder, these people are also struggling to get loans as the number of available different mortgage products has dropped by around 56% over the last 6 months to just 16,000.

House prices could tumble 10%

A government blunder has revealed that 'at best' property prices are expected to fall between 5 and 10% this year.

Caroline Flint accidentally revealed a briefing note on her way to this week's Cabinet meeting. It was headed 'Caroline Flint - speaking notes' and contained a summary of what the minister told Mr Brown, Mr Darling and other Cabinet colleagues.

A sticker on the document said 'Papers for Cabinet meeting 13 May 2008'. The briefing said leading house price indicators were predicting reductions for the first time in recent years and warned : 'We can't know how bad it will get. Given present trends, they will clearly show sizeable falls in prices later this year - at best down 5%-10% year on year.'

People want house prices to fallhouse prices

A BBC-commissioned survey has found that 28% of respondents wanted house prices to drop against 22% who hoped for an increase in house prices. And giving an indication that crash fears may be misplaced, almost two-thirds of respondents said a fall of more than 10% in house prices would not negatively impact on their household spending.

This survey follows a series of gloomy data from the mortgage industry. In April average house prices fell by 1.3%, according to the Halifax. It contributed to the first 12 month house price drop since February 1996.

Level house prices or a fall in prices could help hard-pushed first-time buyers who have struggled in recent years to get onto the property ladder with ever increasing prices. It could also help those hoping to move up a level in the future, as the steps between the house prices narrows. Fears of the impact of a sizeable fall in house prices appear to be less pronounced than with the '90s property crash.

More than 60% said a drop of more than 10% would make no difference to their spending plans or make them likely to spend more. That compared with 38% who said it would make them more likely to cut back.

Halifax House Price Drop

A report by the Halifax agrees with the report from Nationwide earlier in the weekin showing that house prices have dropped in the previous 12 months.

It is the first time in over 12 years that a drop in house prices over a year has been reported by the Halifax, with an average 0.9% drop since last April, taking the average house price to £189,027. The last time they reported an annual house price drop was February 1996.

Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis said: 'We are expecting a modest decline in house prices in 2008, and there is a strong chance that will continue into 2009. House prices are high in relation to earnings so there is a problem for people entering the market, and there is a general squeeze on spending as well.'

This news piles on more pressure to the Bank of England to cut interest rates, although many lenders have still to pass on rate cuts since last month's rate cut, with some lenders actually increasing rates since the cut.

House Prices Dropped In A Year

For the first time during the current credit problems, a major survey has shown house prices have dropped over the last 12 months.

The survey, by the Nationwide, shows that average house prices have dropped 1% since April 2007, bring the average price to £178,555. This follows 133 consecutive months of house price rises, since March 1996.

Natiowide's chief economist Fionnuala Earley said: 'April's fall in prices continues the trend of the last six months and reflects the weakening sentiment in the market brought about by poorer affordability and tighter financial market conditions.'

London House Prices Falling

Rightmove has reported house selling prices in London have fallen in nearly every borough between March and April. Average Kensington and Chelsea house prices have fallen by £33,000 to £1,458,558 - down more than 2.2% in 1 month.

Across London, the average house price has fallen by £3,838, with only 5 boroughs able to report an increase.

Record House Price Falls

A report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has painted a gloomy picture of house prices in the UK. It found that house prices are falling at their fastest rate for 30 years with a future of lower prices, few buyers and desperate sellers.

Every region in England and Wales has been reported as suffering drops, with the majority falling at record levels. The East Midlands is reporting the worst drops after 15 months of decline.

House Prices Tumbled In March

House prices fell in March by their biggest monthly drop since the the property crash of the 1990s. The value of an average property fell by almost £5,000 - 2.5%.

The report by the Halifax showed that March suffered the worst monthly fall in property prices since September 1992 when prices dropped by 3% in a single month. This means that the average house is now worth only 1.1% more than 12 months ago and house prices have dropped 1% in the first quarter of this year.

After allowing for inflation, the real price of an average home over the last 12 months has dropped by £4,909.

Annual House Prices Down Again

A report by the Land Registry shows a drop in the annual house price growth for the 6th consecutive month.

The average property cost in England & Wales rose by just 5.3% in the 12 months to the end of February, the slowest rate of gain since July 2006. The price of an average property has held at £185,616

Sell High, Buy Low

Around 18% of homeowners ready to sell houses are considering moving into rented accommodation. These owners are willing to gamble that the market will tumble over the next 12 to 18 months and are hoping to sell whilst property prices are high and then buy again after a hoped for property crash.

A further 14% are considering moving to rented accommodation to free up capital to ease the burden of debts, according to a survey of 1,100 people moving house by iammoving.com.

But it is a risky choice to rent in the hope of a property crash. An average property has to fall by 7% in value before you recover purchase & sales costs and stamp duty.

House Prices Drop Further

The Halifax monthly house price report has shown a further drop in February. The Halifx reported a drop of 0.3%, taking the total house price increase ove the previous 12 months to 4.2%.

Whereas the average house cost £197,244 in January, that figure has now fallen to £196,649. Economists are forecasting a 5% drop in house prices over the coming year.

You can check house selling prices in your area totally free, here.

New Housing Market Gloom

Persimmon has reported falling levels of interest in new homes, compared to this time last year. 12 months ago it had forward reservations of £1.3bn, now it is down 19% to £1.05bn.

Footfall through sites is also down 13% on the same period, with cancellations up 20% as potential buyers refuse to commit with banks and building societies tightening lending conditions.

Chairman John White complained of 'a very challenging year' and was cautious about the spring selling season. 'When confidence returns and sentiment improves we anticipate a return to a stronger market,' he said.

'In the meantime we remain cautious. Understandably, potential purchasers are currently taking longer to make decisions about the timing of their house purchase. There remains an underlying demand and desire for new homes but we have been experiencing a period of a "wait and see" approach.'

No Rate Cuts Even Though Prices Will Fall

Bank of England rate setter Kate Barker has warned that property prices could continue to fall, but next month might be too soon for a further interest rate cut.

More house price drop 'cannot be ruled out' after the 211% increase in house prices since 1997, said Barker in a speech in North Staffordshire.

'The risk I believe to be of most concern is around the interplay between the property market and the financial sector resulting from the credit turmoil.' said Baker

'There are clear signs of a marked weakening in both the commercial and residential property markets.' Barker went on: 'While the outlook for house prices is always highly uncertain, it is likely that prices will decline in the short term relative to earnings, and falls in nominal terms cannot be ruled out.'

House Prices Fall Again

The Nationwide, the biggest building society in the UK, has reported falling house prices for the third month in a row.

It said that after December's 0.4% drop, January's drop was 0.1% - better than had been predicted by analysts at 0.3%.

This reduced the annual house price inflation from 4.8% in December to 4.2% in January, the lowest it has been since December 2005. This drop reduced the average house selling price by £1,607 to £184,473.

Looking at quarterly figures, prices fell 0.3% in the three months to January in contrast to a 0.9% increase in the three months to December.

These drops, along with yesterday's announcement by the Bank of England that mortgage approvals had dropped to their lowest level for 13 years, are making analysts to predict a quarter percent drop in base rates next week.

House Prices To Fall 10%

Neil Woodford, one of Britain's most powerful fund managers with investment house Invesco Perpetual, said house prices are simply too high and the average home will drop £18,500 by New Year's Eve, or £50 a day.

Some parts of the country could be even worse hit, with buyers of newly built flats aimed at the buy-to-let market worst hit, as he fears these will become 'almost unsellable'.

Neil said 'Although my forecast is for house prices across the UK to fall eight to 10% in 2008, the decline may be much worse in certain areas.'

But even the most pessimistic of the more respected housing commentators, Capital Economics, had been forecasting a fall of only five per cent this year.

You can check house selling prices in your local area for free, here.

House Prices Dropping

A new report by Britain's biggest property website Rightmove, has revealed that house prices have fallen for the third consecutive month. The 0.8% drop this month brings the total drop since October to almost 5%.

The average house price was £241,642 in October but now stands at just £230,428 - a decrease of £11,214, or around £120 per day.

Rightmove reported that house prices did rise last year, by just 3.4%, which is below the level of inflation (4%).

You can view latest house selling prices in your local area here for free.