House price rises start to slow

House price rises are flattening, thanks to a surge of new properties on the market, according to Rightmove. Although prices did rise in May – the fourth consecutive month – the increase was by a mere 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, a whopping 8 per cent more stock was put up for sale. In London, average prices dropped by 0.4 per cent in May as the number of properties being put up for sale nearly doubled compared with the previous year. Miles Shipside, at Rightmove, said: "We forecast that prices in 2010 will end up broadly flat, with gains in the first half falling away in the second half."