Government urged to help consumers further

Following the release of the Nationwide house price index, Chris Brown, President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the residential sales arm of the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP), said: "It is encouraging to see that the slowdown in house prices that Nationwide has reported for June has fallen to 0.9%, which is a dramatic decline from the figures reported by the company last month.

"Indeed, we know from our members that the market in some regions in the UK has been subdued as consumers' confidence has taken a knock with the continuing external pressures, particularly the global credit crunch. However, the market appears to be stabilising which should help begin to restore confidence in the market place.

"We continue to urge the government to help the market. We have called for measures such as a stamp duty holiday for first time buyers and temporary tax relief on the mortgage interest of people's primary residence. We really want to see action from the government to ease pressure and give consumers hope for the future."