Fragile housing market fails to shine . . .

Monday 2nd July 2012

A picture of a fragile and lacklustre housing market overshadowed by the UK economy and wider eurozone worries is painted by Hometrack this morning.

Notably, it says the market in the South outside London is weakening.

Overall, new buyer registrations slipped by 0.5% last month, with the growth in housing supply outpacing demand.

The property analyst forecasts demand to decline further, with a downward pressure on prices.

Hometrack also said that weaker demand means that house prices were down in seven regions in June, compared to three in March. Only in London did house prices increase last month, up by 0.3%.

Richard Donnell, director of research, said that regionally, house prices had fallen in southern regions outside London.

In March, just 10% of the South-East registered house price falls, but in June the proportion grew to 26%. In the South-West, the proportion grew from 2% to 32% over the same period, while the change has been from 11% to 30% in East Anglia.

Donnell expects house prices to slip by 1–2% over the next six months in southern England.