House prices flat in June
House prices in England and Wales held steady in June, and this trend of broadly static prices is likely to continue for the rest of the year, mortgage lender Nationwide said.
Nationwide’s June house price index showed no change on the month, compared to a 0.3 per cent rise in May, and was 1.1 percent lower on the year.
“The property market has moved sideways over the past six months, and June’s data suggest that trend is being maintained through the summer months,” said Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner. “It’s hard to make the case for prices rising or falling sharply over the remainder of 2011,” he added.
Sluggish economic growth and slow wage rises mean that there is little upward pressure on prices, but an ongoing shortage of supply and few repossessions due to low interest rates create no great pressure for prices to fall either.
Other house price surveys have shown a broadly similar pattern. House prices fell by more than 20 per cent on some measures during the financial crisis, but staged a modest revival in early 2010 before falling slightly thereafter.