UK House Prices Situation: Prices falling in most areas

UK House Prices Forecast: At least 15% fall by 2010

1.2% Fall in June - Rightmove

Asking prices for UK houses fell by an average of 1.2% in June, according to property website Rightmove.

The website advertises around 90% of the properties for sale in the UK and bases its house price index on asking prices - a key indicator of seller sentiment which is generally considered a good "leading" - i.e. early - indicator of the direction the market is heading.

Rightmove's Commercial Director Miles Shipside said that in some ways, the fall was welcome. "In spite of the lowest housing transactions for 30 years, new sellers had been coming to the market asking record prices… Thankfully, new sellers are now taking some proactive steps to price more realistically from the outset to attract increasingly hard-pressed buyers."

The latest figures show that there are now more than one million properties for sale - 15 properties for every buyer. This is a huge increase from last year's average of 7 properties for every buyer. Average stock levels amongst estate agents have also reached record levels, at 75 properties per estate agent. This is the highest level ever recorded by Rightmove.

Such competition means that prices will inevitably be forced down - especially for properties that are in poor condition or are otherwise undesirable.

House Prices Could Fall 9% in 2008 - HBOS

HBOS, owners of the Halifax, have predicted that house prices in England and Wales could fall by an average of up to 9% in 2008. This is considerably worse than their previous forecast of a 5% fall, which they made in April.

Read about UK House Price indexes / key statistics that track the ups and downs of house prices

Read our take on the Credit Crisis the effect on UK House Prices and Mortgages. A Special Report

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