As Charles Wasdell, a director of Moveme.com, said: "The Halifax House Price Index provides some welcome news for today's homebuyers. While average prices continued to fall in July, the pace of decline has slowed for the second consecutive month, offering some of the first signs of a gradual return to positive price growth.
The Halifax index showed that house prices fell by 1.7% in July, with pressure on householders’ income constraining potential homebuyers’ ability to enter the market. However, the drop was smaller than the falls in both the previous two months - May (-2.5%) and June (-1.9%).
The UK average price is more than one-third higher than five years ago. The average price in July 2008 was £44,980 (34%) higher than in July 2003 and £104,888 (145%) higher than a decade ago in July 1998.
The annual rate of house price inflation - measured by the average price over the three latest months compared with the same period a year earlier, was -8.8% in July. UK average prices, at £177,351, have returned to where they stood in June 2006.
