There was another sign that the UK property market may be cooling, after the HMRC released figures showing that the number of properties sold in the month of June had dropped - when the numbers are adjusted by season.
Although the raw number of sales for June, 109,580, is the highest since November 2007 (and identical to that of last November), the figure is distorted by the time of year.
Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique that attempts to remove predictable seasonal influences to give a more accurate picture of a trend. For example, the number of jobs in the economy will go up around Christmas, but to claim that the increase is significant would be inaccurate.
The quarterly figures show that the second three months of 2014 has been slower than the first when adjusted for the season. A closer look at the monthly data (again seasonally adjusted) shows that actually the number of sales peaked in February this year, not June. We've been slipping ever since.
The drop is likely to be linked to the recent fall in house prices. According to Halifax, prices have now dropped for two straight months as the market recovers from the fraught competition for properties.
Source: City AM