| 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.
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