Flats 'lead' the housing slowdown

Lenders' data suggests that house prices have been falling in 2008

A fall in flat prices has become a key factor in the slowdown of the housing market, UK government figures show.

A 3.6% drop in the price of flats in the UK between May and June contributed to the price of the average home falling from £216,625 to £215,029.

The housing market has been slowing, but the Department for Local Government and Communities (DCLG) says prices still grew by 0.6% in the year to June.

House price growth remained strongest in Scotland.

The DCLG figures lag behind other house price surveys by a month, and use information from lenders.

Unlike the Nationwide and Halifax surveys, which are weighted according to transactions, the DCLG survey depends much more on the total amount of money spent and so tends to be loaded towards London, where prices are highest.

Slowdown

The figures show that the annual house price growth in the UK slowed for an eighth consecutive month.

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICES IN JUNE England: £221,763 Wales: £162,168 Scotland: £167,577 Northern Ireland: £220,199 Source: DCLG Mortgage market 'remains subdued' 'More realism' over house prices

In June, it stood at 0.6%, which was down from an annual rate of 3% in May and 7.9% in January.

In England, annual growth in house prices fell to 0.5% in June from a rate of 3.1% in May, and in Scotland it was down to 5.7% from 5.9%.

Prices fell year-on-year by 1% in Wales and by 9.4% in Northern Ireland.

In the English regions, prices still rose slightly compared with June 2007 in the South East (up 1.8%), the East (1.5%), London (1.4%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (0.7%).

Prices fell year-on-year in the North East (down 0.2%), the South West (0.4%), the North West (1.1%), the East Midlands (1.1%), and the West Midlands (1.9%).

The figures also showed that the average price of houses bought by first-time buyers was £159,606, down 0.5% in June compared with a year ago.

The average price paid by people moving from a home they owned was £247,917, up 0.9%.

The DCLG has revised some figures for previous months owing to fresh figures being supplied by lenders.