Annual house price falls 'accelerating'

Annual house price falls increased dramatically in June, new data has indicated.

According to figures released today (July 1st) from the Nationwide Building Society, property prices in the UK are now 6.3 per cent lower than the same time last year.

In addition, house prices are now more than seven per cent lower than they were in October 2007.

Fionnuala Earley, chief economist for Nationwide, noted that the average price of a house is now less than £172,500.

She said: "Prices in June are now 6.3 lower than this time last year and have fallen 7.3 per cent from their peak last October. The price of a typical house is now £172,415. This is over £13,500 less than it would have cost at the top of the market and over £11,500 less than this time last year."

Nationwide asserted that a combination of a lack of cheap credit and demands from lenders for larger deposits is continuing to drive house prices down. As such, fewer people are able to afford to buy a property and are choosing to rent all over the country including the capital instead.

In related news, the Bank of England recently revealed that mortgage approvals experienced an annual drop of 63.8 per cent last in May, falling from 116,000 in the same month last year to 42,000.

Published 1st July, 2008

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