Shed of the Year (sponsored by Cuprinol) goes to Southend man Reg Miller who says it's a 'pirate shack'. Hmmm ... http://www.cuprinol.co.uk/promotions/shed_week/shed_of_the_year.jsp

Bank of England freezes base rate

Nationwide BS dumps England team after 11 years http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Nationwide-To-End-England-Football-Team-Sponsorship-Leaving-FA-In-Search-Of-New-Deal/Article/201007115659790?f=rss

Grant Shapps announces £390m in affordable housing funding to provide 8500 homes http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2010-07-06-Shapps-welcomes-390-million-funding-for-new-homes

Danni Minogue selling her riverside  'crash pad' on Zoopla for £550,000 http://blog.zoopla.co.uk/2010/07/05/dannii-minogues-riverside-pad-for-sale-on-zoopla-co-uk/

Halifax house prices DOWN 0.6% in July  http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/pdfs/research/2010/HousePriceIndexJune2010.pdf

There are now FIVE times more property millionaires than ten years ago http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2010-07-08-Number-of-property-millionaires-rises-five-fold-in-a-decade-research

Violent pensioner barred from housing complex for attack http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2010-07-05-Violent-pensioner-barred-from-sheltered-housing-property

Persimmon reports completed sales up 16% to June http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2010/07/06/house-builder-persimmon-achieves-16-rise-in-sales/

A lady called me today to ask my advice. She has been trying to sell her property for 18 months and is now on her THIRD estate agent.

'What's the problem?', she said.

'Price', I replied instantly having been told that in a year and a half no price reduction had been made at all despite a total lack of interest in the house.

On doing some elementary research I soon discovered that the asking price that previous agents have recommended to her as 'correct' is actually11% higher than the figure that any nearby property has recently sold for.

No wonder people are mystified when they fail to sell. You rely on an estate agent to be informed and honest and some are rarely either.

There are some contradictory numbers coming from the two most authoritative providers of UK house price statistics.

The Nationwide Building Society index reported a 0.1% INCREASE in prices in June following a 0.5% RISE in May.

But the equally valid Halifax report this week states a DROP in prices in June of 0.6% with a 0.5% FALL in May before it.

In spite of the 'one says up, one says down' confusion here, one thing is for sure. The unexpected rise in prices of 2008/9 is running out of steam. Even the most optimistic figures now show that where there is an increase, the rate of monthly price escalation is certainly declining.

Many buy to let landlords are now choosing to sell and the number of lettings instructions are lower accordingly. Many home owners are jumping in to the sellers market now too, so as to avoid any significant price drops.

Prices may have peaked, for now...