"It appears that we've reached a tipping point with the equilibrium between buyers and sellers much more out of sync"
- Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax
After a year of growing pressure on the government and the central bank the housing market seems to become a less worrying issue for both of them. None of them has done anything remarkable to prevent a bubble that could derail economic growth, however, there are clear indicators housing market is losing momentum. Earlier this year the Bank of England warned it posed the greater risk to the domestic economy, while financial stability officials set property lending curbs in June in order to prevent frothy prices leading to a soaring build-up of debt.
A recent report from the Rightmove showed prices sought for houses across England and Wales sank 0.8% in July, posting their first monthly decline since December. Property prices in the capital fell 0.4% reaching an average of 587,174 pounds. Additionally, the gulf between demand and supply for property in the U.K. is poised to narrow, according to a survey compiled by Halifax. The balance of people considering the next 12 months as a good time to purchase a home plummeted to 5 in the second quarter following 34 three months earlier. That was the largest drop since records began in 2011. At the same time, a gauge of future outlook climbed just 1 point to 66. These figures mean that a boom that has driven housing prices to record highs may have reached its peak.
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