UK House Prices Situation: House prices down 10% in last year

UK House Prices Forecast: Prices expected to continue to fall across the UK

Nationwide Reports 10.5% Annual Fall

The latest figures from the Nationwide House Price Index show that average house prices have fallen by 10.5% since August 2007. This is the first time since 1990 that prices have fallen by more than 10% in one year.

Nationwide's figures showed that in August alone, average house prices fell by 1.9% - up from a fall of 1.5% in July. Property sale volumes are down considerably and Nationwide Chief Economist Fionnuala Earley said that "the increased supply of properties on agents' books will continue to act as a dampener to house price growth in the short term."

Rightmove Figures Support Downwards Trend

The latest house price index report from property website Rightmove supports the expectation that house prices will continue to fall in the near future. Rightmove's index tracks the asking prices of properties advertised for sale on its website. By doing this, it generally provides an advanced indicator of sale price trends.

The Rightmove HPI showed that average house prices fell by 2.3% in August - an even bigger fall than July's 1.8% drop. Rightmove Commercial Director Miles Shipside noted that "the number of transactions this year is in danger of being the lowest since 1959." He went on to say that "the lack of mortgage finance is central to the problem" but that in the meantime "sellers need to continue to price to sell" if they want to do successful deals.

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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