UK house price inflation at 10-year low

British house prices rose at their weakest annual rate in ten years in July as homeowners desperate to move dropped their asking prices, a survey showed today.

According to a monthly survey by Rightmove, the average asking price for a property fell to 196,649 pounds ($518,452) in July, a decline of 1.0 per cent from June, and a rise of just 0.2 per cent from a year ago.

In June, annual house price inflation was 2.4 per cent, with a monthly rate of 0.2 per cent.

House prices are a key economic indicator in Britain, where a buoyant market in recent years boosted consumer confidence.

"Sellers are now realising they have to compromise some degree of their gains in order to sell their properties," said Miles Shipside, Commercial Director of Rightmove.

"This common sense is a vital step along the road to an orderly recovery of the property market, particularly if combined with an interest rate cut," he added.

The survey, which covers the period from June 11 to July 9, showed the number of properties on estate agents' books fell to 71 per agent from 73 last month, indicating that the property market may have troughed.

The survey came after British housebuilder Bovis Homes said on Thursday that the sluggish property market was denting sales of new homes, as buyers had such trouble selling their old houses.

Mortgage lending and approval figures from the British Bankers' Association and the Building Societies Association are due on Wednesday.

- REUTERS