House prices dip in July

The monthly fall followed those of 2.5pc in May and 1.9pc in June, and was in line with figures released by the Nationwide. Ben Read, senior economist at the cebr, said: "After the initial shock caused by the crisis in the global financial markets, which has led to a massive tightening of mortgage availability and higher lending rates, compounded by soaring commodity prices, we are now seeing a real crisis of confidence in the housing market. "Transactions for the year to date are already down by over 40pc according to the Land Registry, and activity on the market has slowed to a tric...