House price slowdown confirmed for July

The Land Registry has confirmed the findings of a host of other housing indices by asserting that property price growth did indeed slowdown in July, with prices rising by just 0.1 per cent over the course of the month.

This brought the annual rate of inflation down to 8.8 per cent, but prices varied significantly across the regions, with the West Midlands seeing prices rise by 4.5 per cent over the last 12 months but London witnessing annualised growth of 15.5 per cent.

A typical home in the UK now costs £181,460, the study found, but this figure is almost doubled for those living in London.

"A difficult 2008 looms for the housing market, and will be made even worse if interest rates rise to six per cent in the coming months," commented David Stubbs, senior economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

But recent stock market volatility makes the chance of another rate rise less likely in the near future, analysts have suggested.




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