Average house prices rise in poll of polls

A new poll of polls has concluded average house prices rose 0.4% in July. The Chesterton Humberts poll, which collates eight of the main house price indices also found that the annual fall now stands at -13% from -14% in June, a fall of £33.045 for an average UK property.

Six of the eight indices studied reported a price rise in July, despite prices actually falling in eight out of the twelve regions. The two regions with the largest populations – London and the South East – saw rises of 0.5% which raises the average total figure, although this overall rise might not be a permanent state of affairs. As other analysis has cautioned, the market is still on shaky ground: ‘That this recent change in the direction of house price movements is permanent is by no means guaranteed,’ says the report, ‘especially as we move out of summer, traditionally the busiest time for house purchases. However an upturn for house prices does appear to be consistent with other indicators, which suggests a return to economic growth could soon be on the cards.’

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Regionally, London and the South East fared best for house price rises, as we have seen, although the largest rises actually occurred in Wales which experienced a rise of 0.8%, while the sharpest monthly decline was in Northern Ireland where house prices fell a further 1.6%. The steepest annual contraction remains in the North West where prices have fallen 14.5% in the past year, and the shallowest decline was in Scotland which has only seen a 7.1% fall over the year to July, the report said.

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