- House prices rose 1.2% on average in April, pushing up the cost of a typical UK home to £209,454. The Department of Communities and Local Government says annual inflation is now 11.3% nationwide. Northern Ireland continues to outperform every other region, with prices up by 54.1% in the 12 months to the end of April. London remains the strongest market in England, with annual inflation of 14%, taking the average price of a home in the capital above £320,000.

- Homes for first-time buyers account for just 3.1% of the housing stock, while family-sized homes make up 67%, according to Hometrack, the property consultancy. “While it’s true to say that half of the new properties built last year were flats, the majority of these – 90% – had two bedrooms or more. One-bed new homes accounted for just 10%,” says Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s director of research. He says government policy-makers, local and central, should set targets for more small homes.

- The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) says the share of transactions involving first-time buyers is 10.3% – down from 29% in 2000. It blames the overall rise in house prices, buy-to-let landlords snapping up smaller homes, recent interest-rate rises and the difficulties faced by first-timers in London and the southeast in finding homes priced below the 1% stamp-duty level of £125,000. “Abolishing stamp duty for first-time buyers is one quick way the government could make a difference to this struggling group,” says Stewart Lilly, the NAEA president.

- A leading estate agent is cutting its forecast for price rises next year. Cluttons predicts prices in London will rise by 7%-9% in 2008, compared with its earlier prediction of 8%-11%. Outside the capital, it expects prices to go up 4%-7%, rather than 6%-9%.

BACKGROUND

• Will further interest rate cuts boost the housing market next year?

• A guide to the housing market forecasts

• The property market: a bleak future?

BACKGROUND

• All set for slowdown

• Homes in N Ireland rise 54% to London levels

• House prices: top hotspots ... and the coolest

• What do Chelsea and Belfast have in common?

The London property market

BACKGROUND

• Is the property boom finally over?

First-time buyers priced out

Houses will become completely unaffordable for first-time buyers unless many more are built, a national advisory unit says

• Reform of planning rules ‘vital’ to meet growth in demand

• How the mortgage market has changed

• The future of house prices: 10 times pay

BACKGROUND

• Property prices grow at slowest rate in five months

• Buying a house 'will cost 10 times your income'

• How the mortgage market has changed

• First proof of decline in housing market

• Buy-to-let brigade could be the joker in pack

No one is suffering as much as first-time buyers

Lenders are getting more picky, yet property prices are refusing to fall far enough, fast enough

BACKGROUND

• First proof of decline in housing market

• Fresh signs of cooling housing market

• House prices slow despite London surge

BACKGROUND

• Mortgage slowdown triggers house price fears

• Buy-to-let tax shock

• Fall in mortgages raises fears of slowdown

• Signs emerge that UK housing is off the boil

• Interest rates put brake on house prices

End of house price boom is in sight

Societies saw an 8% drop in mortgage approvals last month compared with a year ago, the first such fall since 2005

BACKGROUND

• Nationwide says slowdown may limit price rise

• House prices keep on rising

• Your guide to surviving the rate hike

• The return of negative equity?

Housing costs taking their toll

The question that always accompanies fresh data showing a fast-growing housing market is: are we headed for a crash?

- About 15% of landlords with properties in so-called “prime” central London have sold at least some of their investments this year, cashing in on the huge rises in their value, says the agent Knight Frank. Most sales have been to owner-occupiers, as a result of which, “Stock levels in the rental market continue to tighten and rents grow strongly.”

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers