Independant Mortgages Direct

House prices have dropped 0.6% in June but are still 6.3% up on last year, according to the Halifax House Price Index. Prices for the April to June quarter remain largely unchanged from the first quarter at 0.1% lower. Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, says: “This continued the slowdown in house price growth since the beginning of the year following the moderate recovery in prices during much of 2009.  This pattern is in line with our view that house prices will be broadly unchanged over 2010 as a whole.” The average house price stands at £166,203 which is 17% below its August 2007 peak. An increase in house sales meant the ratio of house sales to the stock of unsold properties on surveyors’ books fell for the fifth time in the past six months. In separate research Halifax reveals the cost of owning and running a home has dropped by 6% over the past two years by £544 to £9,020 due to a 19% fall in mortgage payments.