Construction: UK home sales show signs of doubt in recovery

Driving across Southern England recently, it's a shock to see how much of England's green and pleasant land is now covered in concrete and various hues of brick. Housing development, particularly in the coastal region, has reached epidemic proportions.

But all of those houses need to be sold and judging by the number of people around, they have been. But whether they can be resold for the same price or more is, once more, open to doubt.

The UK's professional body for surveyors which includes professionals in estate agency and valuation as well as structural surveyors has produced its figures for Q2 2010 and they do not make pretty reading: more surveyors have reported a fall in property values than have reported an increase.

The signs of a downturn are simple: more property being put up for sale and less prospective purchasers registering interest. That's usually the first sign of a downward spiral, not simply a slight slide.

Government figures confirm the downturn: the Department for Communities and Local Government says "UK house prices rose by 0.8% in the quarter to June 2010 compared to an increase of 2.8% in the March quarter." And while that still looks like a rise, it's the pace of that rise that causes concern. In Northern Ireland, for example, property prices are reported to have fallen by an average of 8%.

With other indicators also showing potential clampdowns in consumer spending - and reported substantial increases pending in fuel and rail costs (which will hit, particularly, the dormitory developments in southern England) - the signs are that persuading homebuyers to take out large loans to buy new property will become increasingly difficult. That is especially so as lending criteria have tightened particulary in relation to low start and self-certification mortgages both of which were a significant cause of the financial crisis.