UK house prices are now lower than they were three months ago and the weakness shows signs of spreading to London which has appeared resilient up until now, according to the latest FT House Price Index.

Assetz has published its House Price Watch, which offers an overview of the five main house price indices.

The average asking price of homes put up for sale in England and Wales fell for a third month in a row in January, according to estate agents Rightmove.

UK hotel investment company GuestInvest has bought two central London properties for £120 mln after securing a further £200 mln injection from Bank of Scotland Corporate. The acquisition brings Guestinvest's property portfolio to £300 mln. The company said it plans to redevelop the properties located near Hyde Park and Notting Hill into two hotels.

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Leading shares closed firmer, although off highs, as Wall Street remained higher, with property and housebuilding stocks gaining as Hammerson secured a deal for its major shopping centre in Leeds.

Property prices in prime residential areas of central London are holding up well, according to the latest survey from chartered surveyors Knight Frank.December showed a surprising increase over the November figures with prices rising by 1%, reversing the trend of the previous two months.

London's property market has got off to a surprisingly upbeat start to the year with buyers returning in numbers after the turmoil of last autumn.Estate agents said today last month's interest rate cut and City bonuses being down only around 10 per cent on the previous year's record has breathed new life into a market that was in danger of falling into a slump.

The year is finishing as it began. This week a rather ugly four-bedroom house in Mayfair with a very lovely garden went on the market for £15 million. The details of the sale by Wetherell, the Mayfair agent, highlight how the smartest postcodes have remained largely unaffected by the slowdown. The price includes planning approval to demolish the home and replace it - at a cost of more millions of pounds - with a 10,500 sq ft house, including a swimming pool, media room and staff quarters.

UK house prices fell for a second consecutive month in December, the Nationwide building society says.Prices dropped 0.5% in December after slipping 0.8% in November, but property prices were still up 4.8% year-on-year from December 2006, it said. The average price of a UK property rose by £8,334 over the year, putting it at £182,080 at the end of 2007.

Property prices in Docklands and the City will drop by five per cent over the first half of 2008 as buyers and investors feel the effects of restricted loan terms imposed by lenders according to specialist London agent Hurford Salvi Carr which covers the West End, City and Docklands. In its half yearly report, Hurford Salvi Carr outlines how prices have dropped by three per cent in the last four months of 2007 and that this trend looks set to continue through the first six months of 2008 leading to a total drop of eight per cent between September 2007 and June 2008.

London is starting to look frayed around the edges. For years Britain's capital city has seen international billionaires pump their riches into its real estate in hopes of a steady return, but that could change.

Capital values in the UK property market fell by 4.1% in November, the fourth consecutive monthly decline, according to a report published by CB Richard Ellis. Values have dropped 8.6% from the peak in July and are 5.7% lower than at the beginning of the year.

UK house prices fell in November as higher interest rates and increased mortgage repayment costs took their toll, the Halifax has reported.

House prices in the UK fell for the fourth month in a row in November, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

London house prices dropped at their fastest rate in more than two years last month, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry. Prices were down by 0.6% in October, the first monthly decline in the capital since April 2006 and the sharpest drop since August 2005.

A new report has suggested that homes in regeneration areas will experience the strongest price growth in 2008.

The London property market is set for long-term prosperity, according to estate agent Hamptons International.Although the credit crunch took an adverse effect on the market, this was a short-term phenomenon according to the organisation.

The £1bn purchase of Britain's second-tallest tower, in London's Canary Wharf, remains uncompleted four months after it was agreed, in a vivid sign of how the credit squeeze has affected the real estate market.