There are clear signs that the pace at which house prices are falling in England and Wales is slowing, with the FT House Prices Index showing progressively smaller declines for the fifth month in a row in May.

The average price of all property transactions fell by 0.7 per cent from April, after falling by 0.9 per cent in each of the two previous months. The pace of decline in housing values is a third what it was at the height of the credit crunch in November 2008.