Property prices in UK 'treading water' Barclays analyst Blerina Uruci said that while monthly data had been volatile, a better underlying picture was painted by comparing prices over the past three months with the previous quarter. The Halifax data for this measure have now fallen for the 11th month in a row, she said. While the economy is set to remain weak for the rest of the year, analysts say prices may be underpinned by a shortage of supply of new homes for sale, particularly if employment data remain strong. And there are hopes that the Treasury and the Bank of England's new £80 billion Funding for Lending scheme, which aims to encourage banks to lend more, will help boost the market in coming months. Analysts have so far seen little evidence that the scheme has done much to increase the availability of mortgages for people with lower deposits and first-time buyers. But recent Bank of England figures showed that mortgage approvals increased slightly in July compared with an 18-month low recorded in June, providing hope of an improvement to come. Ms Uruci said: "We expect house prices to be marginally lower in 2012 compared with last year as the weakness in demand is likely to be offset by tight housing supply and support coming from the Funding for Lending Scheme." Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: "September heralds the start of a final push in property sales before the end of the year as many would-be buyers aim to get into their new homes before Christmas. As a result we expect to see a pickup in business in the next couple of months. He said lenders were keen to take advantage of the expected flurry of activity with a number launching new deals designed to entice borrowers. Accord and Northern Rock are running 'sales' for a limited period of time, while Skipton Building Society has cut its fixed rates and some residential deals by up to 0.4 percentage points. Woolwich has launched a number of fee-free remortgage deals designed to attract borrowers whose lenders may have raised their standard variable rates recently.