Forecasts

Extra austerity measures could reduce people's confidence about buying homes, according to Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight.

"The only marginal house price rise in June reported by the Land Registry maintains our belief that house prices will fall back over the latter months of 2010 and very likely soften further in 2011," he said.

In real terms, house prices could fall by 8% from now to 2015, according to a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

"While we have assumed the housing market remains stable, there remains the risk that house prices in the UK could decline at a more rapid pace," the report said.

"By 2015, real house prices are expected to fall back only to the level of 2003."

A separate forecast published earlier this months by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested that house prices might not reach the levels seen at the peak of the market for another decade.