Spike in lending, but it's not over yet

Mortgage lending improved during the month of June, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Their figures showed that gross lending to both house buyers and people re-mortgaging homes increased by 15 percent to £13.1bn.

This is seven percent higher than the same time last year, and also the biggest monthly figure of 2010.

But potential home buyers shouldn’t be too enthused just yet, as June’s increase was merely a seasonal pick-up, with overall lending remaining subdued, CML warned.

They believe there are signs house prices are stabilising, with more properties being put up for sale thanks to the recent abolition of Home Information Packs. Consequently, liquidity in the market may increase.

However, transaction levels are likely to remain flat as long as access to credit remains problematic, while expected job losses in the public sector will also provide further damage, the UK trade body added.

Elsewhere, the bleak outlook was reflected by comments from the Bank of England in the latest edition of its monthly publication.

The Bank revealed major lenders in the UK expect demand for secured lending to be flat for the rest of 2010, a reflection of potential buyers weak confidence in the property market.

House prices are going down

House prices are likely to fall during the second half of 2010, according to a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

This is because the number of properties on the market now outnumbers the amount of people wanting to buy homes, the institute said.

RICS reached their conclusion after surveyors discovered that the number of inquiries from new buyers fell during the month of July.

They feel this reduction in inquiries, only the second since October 2008, is also partly because potential buyers are becoming increasingly concerned about the outlook of the economy, with government cuts set to be introduced in the upcoming months.

However, the survey did show that sellers are now returning to the market, at levels not seen for three years. This is a result of Home Information Packs being abolished, having proved very unpopular since they were introduced in 2007, RICS said.

The survey concluded that while house prices are likely to decrease, property sales should continue to rise, with the average surveyor having sold 17 homes between May and July.

Meanwhile, a separate forecast by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that house prices may not reach pre-credit crunch levels for another ten years.

How to find out house prices in your area

Whether you're thinking of buying or letting a house or any other property in the next few months/years, it's a good idea to keep your eye on how much similar properties are selling for in the area you're considering.

We get a fair idea of whether house prices are rising and falling across the country from our national newspapers, often accompanied by scare tactic hyperbole or mind-easing storytelling, depending on how the economic journalist is feeling that particular day.

But the disparity of house prices across the country is vast. So, it's a much better idea to keep your eye on things a little more locally. You can get fairly specific information... even down to a particular street.

Using an independent website such as houseprices.co.uk allows you to just type in the area you are looking for into a search box and it'll bring up all the information that you're after straight away. It gives you a list of all the properties that have been sold in that area, right down to the street name and gives you the price that it sold for.

The Land Registry's House Price Index is the most accurate independent provider of statistical information on house prices in the UK. You can check the average house price in any area in the UK here: http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/houseprices/housepriceindex/report/

So keep up with it and good luck with your buy or sale.