UK House Prices Situation at 7 9 2007: Slowing growth overall, falls in some areas

UK House Prices Forecast: Growth continuing to slow overall, continued slippage in some areas

Nationwide Figures Show Slowing Growth

Nationwide, one of the UK's largest mortgage lenders, has just published its latest house price index, covering August's property sales.

Although month-on-month growth was up by an average of 0.6%, Nationwide's annual average growth rate fell from 9.9% to 9.6%.

Nationwide also said that it had observed a "collapse in new buyer enquiries" and revealed that its sales-to-stock ratio - the number of sales as a percentage of the number of properties on the market - had fallen to 40%; down from a peak of 60% in 2002.

Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's Chief Economist, commented that "There are now clearer signs of slower demand in the market…"

Land Registry Figures Confirm Slowing Growth

The Land Registry, regarded by many as one of the more authoritative measures of UK house price growth, has just released its interim figures for July.

These tell a very similar story to the latest Nationwide figures, with average annual growth at 8.8% (down from 9.1% in June) and monthly growth for July of just 0.1% - the same as that recorded by Nationwide in its July figures.

Mortgage Approvals Lowest For 3 Months

The British Bankers Association has just published its latest mortgage approval figures, covering July.

They show the lowest level of new mortgage approvals for three months, with 66,695 new mortgages approved - down 1% from July 2006.

Remortgage approvals, on the other hand, were up 12% on the same period last year, suggesting that people are trying to protect themselves from any further interest rate rises and are not currently considering moving.

.