Another report on the average house price in the UK has revealed that for the fourth month in a row the average has slipped.  Halifax revealed in their data that the average house price declined in October by 0.7% to an average of £158,426.  In a comparison with October 2011 the average house price is 1.7% lower.

The Funding for Lending scheme offered by the government has abled lenders to offer loans to borrowers at much lower interest rates than if funding had occurred from the global lending market.  In some cases, the interest rate for mortgage and remortgage offers have been below 3%.  The cheapest offers have been reserved for those that could meet high deposits on 30% to 40% loan to value (LTV) levels.  However, lenders are now targeting those that have lower deposits or equity levels with 10% LTV deals having attractive interest rates.  Demand for these low interest loans are expected to help boost demand in both the mortgage and remortgage lending markets.  The housing market is still struggling to attract the first time buyers and perhaps lower deposit cheap mortgage offers will be the key to bringing them back.

Martin Ellis, Housing Economist with Halifax, said, “Signs of a modest deterioration in the trend in house prices continued in October.

“Prices in the three months to October were 1.2% lower than in the preceding three months. This was the fifth successive decline in this measure of the underlying trend.

“Recent encouraging developments relating to the level of overall economic activity and conditions in the labour market, however, may help to support demand and underpin house prices around current levels over the coming months.”