Notwithstanding the slowdown, house prices continue to rise across the whole country with all counties reporting rises except for Oxfordshire (-0.7%). The highest rises were seen in Suffolk (0.9%), Buckinghamshire (0.8%), Greater Manchester (0.8%), Devon (0.8%) and North London (0.8%).

City hotspots this month were headed by Ipswich, which recorded increases of 2.4%, followed by Middlesborough (2.1%), Cardiff (1.6%), Milton Keynes (1.3%) and Manchester (1%). Meanwhile, Oxford itself also suffered this month, recording house price falls of -1.4%. Other areas recording falling property values included Croydon (-0.2%) and Warwick (-0.1%) while Winchester, Guildford and Bournemouth all saw static prices.

John Wriglesworth, Hometrack’s Housing Economist, comments: “While house prices are continuing to rise, there are the first signs that the market may be easing.”

“New buyers have reduced, and excess demand has fallen for the first time this year. With the effects of the recent interest rate rise still to feed through, it looks like the market will continue to slow this year. However, we are maintaining our forecast of 8% house price rises for 2004, with a further slowdown to 4% in 2005.”

“Speculation of a pending housing market crash has no foundation. Interest rates still remain historically low, unemployment remains at a record low and incomes are rising strongly.”