July sees house price growth slow

July sees house price growth slow

House prices grew by just 0.1% over July, the lowest rate of monthly growth since January 2006, according to the latest national housing market survey from Home track.

This is the third month in a row there has been a deceleration in the monthly rate of house price growth according to the firm. Growth in July was down on a 0.3% rise over June and a 0.6% increase in May. The loss of momentum has fed through into the year on year rate of growth which currently stands at 5.9% compared to a recent high of 6.8% in April 2007.

“It was inevitable that the steady increase in interest rates which began last year would ultimately impact on levels of housing demand right across the market - a trend that has been exacerbated by the seasonal

slowdown in activity over the summer,” commented Richard Donnell, Home track's director of research.

“However, the slowdown has been accelerated by a rise in the supply of housing for sale over recent months. While the growth in supply across the country appears to have moderated, we expect demand to remain weak over the second half of the year as the impact of higher interest rates continue to feed into the market.”

Date: 30/07/07