TIDM68FF

RNS Number : 7437L

HBOS PLC

05 August 2011

Halifax House Price Index

 
 National Index   July 2011 
 
 
                     All Houses, All Buyers Index (1983=100) 
   Annual Change     Quarterly Change   Monthly Change 
       -2.6%               0.5%              0.3% 
           Standardised Average Price (seasonally adjusted) GBP163,981

Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said:

"House prices in the three months to July were 0.5% higher than in the previous three months. This was the first increase in this key measure of underlying price movements for 14 months. Prices rose for the third consecutive month, increasing by 0.3% in July.

Overall, there has been little change in either the level of house sales or the number of properties on the market for sale since late 2010. These steady market conditions have helped to stabilise house prices in 2011 following last year's modest decline.

This pattern is expected to continue over the rest of the year with little genuine direction in either house prices or sales. Sustained low interest rates and a slowly improving economy should help to support demand in the face of pressures from weak earnings growth, relatively high inflation and higher taxes."

Key facts

-- House prices in the three months from May to July were 0.5% higher than in the preceding three months. This is the first increase in this measure of the underlying trend since May 2010 (0.1%).

-- The average UK house price in July was marginally higher (0.7%) than in December 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, at GBP163,981.

-- On an annual basis, prices in July were 2.6% lower as measured by the average for the three months to July against the same period a year earlier. This was the second successive improvement in the annual rate from a low of -4.2% in May.

-- Little change in housing activity trend. The number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase - a leading indicator of completed house sales - increased by 4% between May and June to 48,421; the highest monthly total since May 2010. Despite this encouraging rise, the industry-wide number of approvals remains within the range of 45,000-50,000 per month where it has been since the beginning of 2010. Approvals in the second quarter were unchanged from the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.

-- Steady market conditions help to stabilise house prices and sales. Market conditions - as measured by the ratio of house sales to the stock of unsold properties on surveyors' books (according to RICS) - have been largely unchanged over the past eight months. This is an improvement on much of 2010 when weakening conditions, led by falling demand, accompanied a gentle decline in house prices. There has been little change in either the stock of unsold properties or the number of sales since November 2010. The current stock of unsold properties is in line with the average over the past decade.

The Halifax House Price Index is prepared from information that we believe is collated with care, but we do not make any statement as to its accuracy or completeness. We reserve the right to vary our methodology and to edit or discontinue/withdraw this, or any other report. Any use of this report for an individual's own or third party commercial purposes is done entirely at the risk of the person making such use and solely the responsibility of the person or persons making such reliance. (c) Bank of Scotland plc all rights reserved 2011.

This information is provided by RNS

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