The Week Unzipped: House prices stabilising, says Nationwide

HOUSE prices edged up by 0.2 per cent in July as sluggish demand and a gradual rise in supply of properties kept prices stable, according to figures from Nationwide.

Prices are 0.4 per cent lower than one year ago, which is an improvement on last month's annual drop of 1.1 per cent annually.

The three month on three month measure showed a 0.3 per cent rise in July, little changed from 0.4 per cent in June.

House prices have risen or remained unchanged for six of the last seven months.

Nationwide said the volume of transactions has stayed at historically low levels in recent months. Completions in the second quarter of 2011 reached their lowest total for two years.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the stable market reflected the uncertain economic climate but also suggested a trend away from owner-occupancy.

Junior Isa limits raised

THE government has raised the Junior Isa limit to 3,600, up from the proposed 3,000.

The tax-free savings accounts for under-18s will be available from November to all children born after 3 January, 2011, who missed out on Child Trust Funds.

The government also confirmed that both cash and stocks and shares Isas will be available. Children can hold one of each at a time.

The accounts will be owned by the child and the funds locked in until their 18th birthday. Junior Isas will become adult Isas on maturity.

A number of providers, including Fidelity, Family Investments and JP Morgan Asset Management, have announced they will offer Junior Isas. Comparison website Moneysupermarket.com warned that Child Trust Funds may become neglected: "With the lack of focus on CTFs, the danger is children with these accounts will languish on poor deals, while those with Junior Isas will benefit from competition in the market."

Apology over lockout

THE Post Office has apologised after a major computer problem locked 3.3 million card customers out of their accounts on Wednesday.

The technical fault affected Pin keypads in all 11,820 UK branches, disrupting credit and debit card transactions until 3.30pm. The bank's cash machines were unaffected.

Claimants who receive their benefits or pension in a Post Office card account were unable to access their money during the system outage. However, those locked out of their accounts were able to receive a 20 emergency cash payment.

First-time buyer deals

JOHN Charcol is offering two 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgages to first-time buyers via Newbury and Saffron building societies.

The Saffron product charges 6.49 per cent fixed until April 2015 with a 195 fee.

The Newbury family offset mortgage charges a variable rate of 3.95 per cent with no fees. The deal requires one or two family members to provide 20 per cent of the purchase price along with a 5 per cent deposit from the borrower.New fixed mortgages

SANTANDER has launched a new two-year fixed mortgage at 2.99 per cent with 30 per cent deposit and a four-year fix at 3.99 per cent with a 40 per cent deposit.

Both deals are available to homebuyers and remortgagers with a 995 fee. The provider also reduced selected fixed rates by up to 0.24 per cent.