Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. house-price inflation slowed for a second month in August, suggesting higher borrowing costs are deterring buyers, a survey by property Web site Hometrack showed.

Annual price growth slipped to 5.2 percent in August from 5.5 percent the month before, according to figures e-mailed to Bloomberg News. In the month, house prices fell 0.1 percent to 152,100 pounds ($277,172), before adjusting for seasonal variations, Hometrack said in a separate press release.

``The recent housing boom now appears to be well and truly over,'' said John Wriglesworth, a Hometrack economist. ``We do not, however, expect any housing market crash.''

U.K. house prices have more than doubled in the past seven years, supporting consumer spending and underpinning the nation's longest period of uninterrupted economic growth in more than 200 years. The Bank of England has boosted its benchmark interest rate five times since November on concern that the rate of expansion in the economy will bolster inflation.

The number of home sales agreed in August slipped 2.1 percent, following a 1.8 percent decline the previous month, said Hometrack, which collects data from as many as 3,500 estate agents. The price achieved as a percentage of the original asking price dropped to 94.9 percent, the lowest since September.

Bank of England policy makers, led by governor Mervyn King, this month increased the key lending rate to 4.75 percent, the highest since September 2001. King and others have identified the housing market as one of the biggest risks to the economy and said prices may fall.

The Hometrack report is the latest to point to a slowdown in the housing market.

The property Web site Rightmove said on Thursday that the average cost of a home rose 15.7 percent from a year earlier in the five weeks to Aug. 14, following an 18 percent annual increase in July. From the month earlier, home values dropped 2 percent.

Hometrack's measure shows weaker house-price growth in the past three years than indexes compiled by lenders. According to Hometrack prices are 58 percent higher than they were on Jan. 1, 2001, while HBOS Plc, the nation's No. 1 mortgage provider, says property values have climbed 88 percent in the same period.

To contact the reporter on this story: Duncan Hooper in London at dhooper@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 23, 2004 04:40 EDT