House prices showed further signs of stabilising in May, with half the regions in England and Wales seeing overall rises in prices, according to data from the UK Land Registry published on Friday.

House prices fell by 0.2 per cent last month, which was the same decline as during the month before, and was the smallest drop since the previous February. Prices are now 15.9 per cent lower than in May 2008, receding from the year on year fall of 16.5 per cent in February, but still standing 17.4 per cent below the peak prices of January 2008.