Digest of the housing statistics

The UK housing market is continuing to struggle

A raft of UK housing statistics revealing a stalled property market were released on Tuesday.

The squeeze on mortgages was confirmed by data from mortgage lenders, while an industry survey showed that the number of sales hit at least a 30-year low.

Here are some of the key statistics published on Tuesday.

COUNCIL OF MORTGAGE LENDERS

Some 35,000 loans were granted for house purchases in September - compared with 41,000 in August and 80,000 in September 2007.

The 122,000 loans granted in the three months to the end of September was the smallest number of any quarter since 1974.

First-time buyers have been feeling the squeeze, with 13,400 entering the market in September, down from 28,200 in the same month a year ago.

The average amount borrowed by these buyers has been declining steadily since peaking at £119,250 in July 2007 and stood at £104,500 in September.

The average deposit paid by first-time buyers rose again to 16%, up from 10% throughout 2006 and 2007.

Mortgage brokers, correctly predicting a fall in interest rates, would have advised new customers to get a tracker mortgage.

The proportion of new tracker mortgage deals and standard variable rate mortgages granted in September grew, while the proportion of fixed-rate deals reduced.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS

The balance of chartered surveyors reporting house price falls rather than increasing prices in October stood at 81.8%.

Sales were down by 53.6% in October compared with the same period a year ago.

Chartered surveyor estate agents sold an average of 10.9 properties each in the last three months - the lowest figure since the survey began in 1978.

This was lowest in London at 6.4 sales, and highest in the North East at 16 transactions.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

UK house prices in September were 5.1% lower than in September 2007, making the average UK house price was £208,583.

Property prices fell by 3% in the three months to the end of September. This compared with a fall of 1% for the previous quarter.

Annual average house prices fell by 5.1% in England, 5.2% in Wales, 0.8% in Scotland and 15.8% in Northern Ireland.

The East, London, the South East and the South West have prices above the UK average. The lowest are in the North East.

First-time buyers in September spent 7.8% less on their new home than a year ago.