The fall and rise of home prices

The housing market in the UK continues to deteriorate...

House prices fell for the 13th straight month in July, taking annual deflation to its sharpest in at least four years, a survey said on Monday. Research company Hometrack said its measure of average house prices based on agreed sales reported by estate agents fell 0.2 percent from a month ago after the same monthly fall in June. Prices were down 3.74 percent over the last 12 months, the most marked fall since Hometrack records began in March 2001. At 161,300 pounds the average house price was the lowest since November 2003, Hometrack said.

...but that in the US powers on.

Sales of previously owned U.S. houses hit a record pace in June, climbing 2.7 percent as home prices soared 14.7 percent from a year ago, the biggest jump in nearly 25 years, a trade group said on Monday. Sales of existing homes surged to a seasonally adjusted 7.33 million unit annual rate last month from May's upwardly revised 7.14 million unit clip, the National Association of Realtors said. The total includes both single-family homes and condominiums... The national median home price rose to $219,000, up from $191,000 a year ago and the strongest increase since November 1980, when annual appreciation was 15.6 percent, the group said.

What a contrast in fortunes.