UK House Prices Dip

Source : Reuters, Sep 01, 2008

LONDON (Britain) - BRITISH house prices fell for an 11th straight month in August to stand 5.3 per cent lower than a year earlier, a survey by property consultants Hometrack showed on Monday.

The monthly price drop of 0.9 per cent was slightly smaller than the previous two months, however. The figures are not adjusted to take seasonal factors into account.

Mr Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research, said there were signs falling prices were starting to attract buyer interest but warned it could be some time before the market stabilised.

'We may well start to see a moderation in the rate of monthly price falls. However, with ever growing uncertainty amongst households over the broader economic outlook the current re-pricing of housing still has some way to run,' he said.

The survey showed properties were on average taking more than 11 weeks to sell, almost twice the time taken a year ago.

The number of viewings to achieve a sale fell for the first time in almost a year.

The proportion of the asking price being achieved fell to 90.7 per cent in August, the lowest level since the survey began, from 90.9 in July. -- REUTERS