House price growth eased to 7.9 per cent in the three months to July compared to the same period of last year, the latest seasonally-adjusted figures from Halifax show.
The average home now costs £198,883.
Prices fell by 0.6 percentage points from June, which is the second monthly decrease recorded in the last six months after the 0.4 percentage point fall in February.
On a quarterly basis, prices in the three months to July were 2.4 per cent higher than in the period from February to April 2015.
Supply hits new low
The number of homes available for sale is at a record low, according to the latest report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS). Supply of new homes for sale declined for the third consecutive month in June, while instructions marked their tenth drop in the past eleven months.
Optimism remains high
People’s confidence in the future house price growth climbed to a four-year high after the General Election in May but fall back in June, according to the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker. Nevertheless, optimism is still at a higher level than it was at the beginning of the year, Halifax said.
Home sales over 100k for first time in nine months  Â
UK home sales increased for the second consecutive month, rising by 5 per cent between May and June to 104,590. This was the first time that monthly sales have exceeded 100,000 since September 2014. Sales were 3 per cent higher than in June 2014, which was the first annual rise in sales recorded this year.
