House price rises 'slow'

First time buyers are likely to stay away from the market

House prices in England and Wales are still rising but the annual rate of increase is continuing to slow, a new survey suggests.

Prices are up by 1.4% on average in June with more properties coming off the market than joining it, creating a sellers' market for the first time in a year, according to property website Rightmove.co.uk.

But the annual rate of house price inflation fell for the sixth consecutive month to 14% from 15.6% in the 12 months to May and 26.5% in the year to January.

Estate agents have an average of 63 properties on their books, according to Rightmove, compared with 40 this time last year.

On the way down?

One key dampener on the market is that the surge in home prices over the past few years means first-time buyers are now more likely to stay away in favour of renting, Rightmove said.

"We're in a transitional phase in the market as prices cool, buyers bide their time and stock levels start to stabilise," said Rightmove's commercial director, Miles Shipside.

The high stock levels are reflected in the length of time properties stay on an estate agent's books, the survey suggests.

In London, the average is 67 days, up from 47 days a year ago, with 63 days being the average in the rest of the country.

Regionally, the south showed a slight decline in prices - and for the first time a northern region, in this case Yorkshire and Humberside, has followed suit.

But even within London, differences are marked, the survey suggested, with high-value boroughs such as Kensington & Chelsea and Camden seeing average prices fall more than 4% in June while more outlying areas such as Newham registering gains of more than 3%.