House Price Update to 25 August 2010

UK House Prices Situation: Last year's growth gradually unwinding

UK House Prices Forecast: No significant growth in most areas in 2010

New Figures Show House Price Growth Is Slowing

Last year's growth in average house prices is continuing to tail off, according to new figures from property investment specialists Assetz. The Assetz House Price Watch combines five leading UK house price indices to form an overview of all their findings.

In August, Assetz reported that average UK house prices are only 6.6% lower than the peak recorded in October 2007. Assetz figures showed that house prices have grown by an average of 4% over the last six months, although the average UK house price has fallen from £201,084 in June to £200,913 at present.

Despite this, Assetz CEO Stuart Law feels confident about the rest of 2010, believing that house prices will rise overall this year:

"The government’s austerity measures are likely to hold down house price growth in 2011 but we are yet to see these cuts reflected in the monthly data. Continued low interest rates and a lack of supply will boost prices this year and for this reason, contrary to most commentators, I still expect to see 5% overall growth for 2010."

Zoopla Figures Highlight Regional House Price Changes

New figures from property search website Zoopla have highlighted how important it is to consider comparable local house prices when assessing the value of a house. The Zoopla figures showed that almost a third of homes currently on the market in the UK have had their asking prices reduced since they went on the market. The average price reduction is 6.1%.

Homeowners in Barnsley, Bristol and Rotherham faired worse, with more than 40% of sellers in these locations having reduced the asking price of their home since it went on the market. At the other end of the scale, just 26.8% of sellers in Huddersfield had reduced their home's asking price.

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

.