House prices fall in July

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices fell for a 10th straight month in July to stand 4.4 percent lower on the year, a survey by property consultants Hometrack showed on Monday.

That was the biggest annual fall since the survey began in 2001. Prices were 1.2 percent lower on the month.

"Indicators of market activity across the housing market remain weak with the survey highlighting a 20 percent drop in demand over the last three months," said Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research.

The survey also showed properties were on average taking 11 weeks to sell, up from 6.5 weeks in June 2007.

The proportion of the asking price being achieved fell to 90.9 percent from 91.6 percent, the lowest level since the survey began.