Housing market stalls.

Latest figures indicate a stalling housing market with both house prices and mortgage approvals falling in May.

The Bank of England released figures showing that mortgage approvals fell in May.

According to the Bank, mortgage approvals for the month stood at 49,815, a fraction below the 49,828 in April and below analysts forecasts of 51,000.

The figure is also well below the 60,000 reached in November 2009 furthermore, they are 50% below levels experienced in 2006.

At the same time house prices according to the most comprehensive figures released by the Land Registry showed the average house declined 0.2% in May compared to April. After the recovery last year prices are still up 8.2% on a year ago, with London prices experiencing the largest recouvery rebounding 14.2% on the year.

However, with the effects of the austerity budget just around the corner landlords should be looking a getting a good deal before committing to a purchase.

In my view in the current climate if I couldn't get at least a 10% reduction on the asking price, I'd just walk away. There is plenty of property out there and a landlord should ensure that they don't start off their residential investment by over paying.

Property Hawk sticks to our original forecast for the housing market made back in 2008.

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