House prices in Britain fell 0.6 percent in June, the third successive monthly fall, a survey from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Thursday, reinforcing the view that last year's housing market recovery is tailing off, according to Reuters. Halifax said the decline was a continuation of a trend since the start of this year and was in line with its view that house prices would be broadly flat over 2010 as a whole. A survey by rival mortgage lender Nationwide last week showed house prices rose 0.1 percent in June, down from the previous month, and official data have shown mortgage approvals stagnating, suggesting limited future price gains. Most economists believe the market will cool as Britain's economy struggles to recover after an 18-month recession amid deep government spending cuts to tackle a deficit of around 11 percent of national output. "We believe that house prices are likely to be erratic over the coming months and will probably be only flat over the rest of 2010," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight. "Furthermore, it is hard at this stage to be optimistic about house prices in 2011 as the fiscal squeeze will increasingly kick in, which will hit people's pockets and lead to serious job losses in the public sector." Halifax said house prices were 6.3 percent higher in the three months to June compared with a year ago, leaving the average price of a home at 166,203 pounds ($252,500). House prices last year had been boosted by a lack of property on the market and Halifax economist Martin Ellis said a greater number of properties being put up for sale this year was keeping prices down. This was partly driven by the recent relaxation of home sale rules by Britain's new government. "An increase in the number of properties available for sale in recent months has helped to reduce the imbalance (between supply and demand), relieving the upward pressure on prices," Ellis said. "The low level of interest rates, however, continues to support housing demand." Despite their recent falls -- prices fell 0.5 percent in May and 0.1 percent in April -- house prices are still 7.5 percent above their April 2009 trough, but are 17 percent down from their peak in August 2007, Halifax said. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.2 percent on the month in June.
