31 May 07 House price growth slows as market reaches turning point
Static demand and rising supply start to undermine upward pressure on prices
House prices grew by 0.6% in May down on the 0.7% rise of April. Year on year growth also slipped back from 6.8% last month to 6.7% today.
Interest rate rises are beginning to take their toll...
The steady rise in interest rates, with the threat of more to follow, is beginning to take its toll. Demand has begun to fall back and there has been a slowdown in the volume of sales. Against this background of weakening demand there continues to be an increase in the volume of supply coming to the market.
The Hometrack survey reveals a 6% increase in properties coming to the market over May up from a 5.7% increase in April and a 4.7% rise in March. London has seen the largest increase in new properties coming to the market over the month (8.8%).
In London the year on year rate of growth remains unchanged...
Despite a 1.3% increase in values across London over May, the year on year rate of growth remains unchanged at 14.3%.
And the rest of the country...
Across the rest of the country, the rate of annual growth in all regions is well below that seen in London. The South East has the second highest rate of growth at 7.2% followed by East Anglia where values are rising at 5.5% per annum. In all other regions growth continues to be subdued.
| Headline statistics | May-07 |
| Weighted Overall Average Price | £175,600 |
| Weighted Overall Average Price Change | 0.6% |
| Change in number of new properties listed | 6.0% |
| Change in no. of sales agreed | 4.3% |
| Sales price as a % of asking price | 95.7% |
| Change in number of new buyers registered | 1.0% |
| Time taken to sell (weeks) | 5.8 |
| Average number of viewings per sale | 10.3 |