HOME SALES RISE AS PRICES FALL

The average property in England and Wales lost a further 1.3% of its value during the month, according to property information group Hometrack. The latest fall left homes costing around £163,200, 7.3% less than a year ago and at a level last seen in March 2006.

But the number of properties sold rose by 5.4% during the month, the first increase in transactions since April. The group said the jump could be early evidence that vendors were finally starting to accept lower offers after a long stand off, and this could help free up the logjam in transactions.

Meanwhile, figures from property search engine Globrix showed that nearly a third of properties that are currently for sale have been on the market for more than six months, while 12% have been on it since the beginning of the year.

Hometrack said that despite the rise in sales, most indicators for the market remained negative, with the number of new buyers registering with agents falling by 3.3%, while the number of properties for sale dropped by 0.9%.

There was also a slight increase in the average time a home is on the market for, with this rising to 11.9 weeks, while the percentage of their asking price that sellers are achieving dipped below 90% to 89.2%.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said: "Weak consumer confidence continues to undermine demand for housing with a 35% fall in the number of applicants registering with agents over the last six months.

"The supply of homes for sale has started to shrink in recent months as some homeowners take their properties off the market, but the scale of the decline in demand means prices remain under downward pressure.

Hometrack said prices fell in 74% of postcode districts during October, with all regions of the country reporting price falls.

Greater London saw the biggest drop at 1.6%, followed by the South East at 1.4%, while Yorkshire and Humberside saw the smallest fall of 0.8%.