LONDON (AP) — Average asking prices for houses in the United Kingdom fell 0.4 percent during the five weeks to June 13, but were still up compared with January after a four-month run of increases, property Web site Rightmove said yesterday.

The average asking price, which measures sellers' hopes rather than actual selling prices, was six percent higher than at the start of 2009, Rightmove said.

That figure echoes other recent signs of recovery — or at least stabilisation — in the housing market.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said yesterday it had revised downward its forecast for home repossessions to 65,000 this year, a reduction of 10,000. The council said record low interest rates and greater forbearance by lenders had eased pressure on mortgage payers. The council also said it expected net mortgage lending to fall by £5 billion ($8.2 billion) this year, compared to its earlier forecast of a £25 billion drop.

Meanwhile, Halifax, the nation's biggest mortgage lender, ealier reported that house prices jumped 2.6 percent in May, the biggest gain in more than two years. The Nationwide Building Society, the country's third-largest mortgage lender, pegged the rise at 1.2 percent in May, leaving prices 11.3 percent below year-ago levels.