Monday, 6 August 2012

UK House Prices Fall 0.7% in July – Nationwide

he latest report by Nationwide suggests that house prices in the UK have fallen by 0.7% in July. The year-on-year decline amounted to 2.6%, which is the most significant decrease registered since 2009.

The average house price in July was 164,389 pounds, which compares to 165,738 pounds a month earlier. House prices in the UK are currently 13% below their peak in 2007.

Commenting on the latest figures, Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said: "UK house prices declined for the fourth time in five months in July...The weaker price trend observed in recent quarters is unsurprising, given the disappointing performance of the wider economy. Indeed, the UK economy has contracted by 1.4 per cent over the past nine months, and is now 4.5 percentage points smaller than it was in Q1 2008."

National Property Database Launched in the UK

Today, on July 31st, Experian, UK credit agency, announced the launch of the first ever property database.

It covers all residential properties across the UK (in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). The aim of the database is to help banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions get comprehensive information about the financial circumstances of their customers, both new and existing.

With the help of the database, it becomes possible to compare house prices across various towns. For instance, it shows that house prices in London are 40-70% higher than in other regions. Also, flats in London constitute 45% of property stock, whereas in other regions this figure stands at 12%.