The World Cup and warm weather are combining to slow the house market, according to Purplebricks’ chief executive Michael Bruce.

Bruce was speaking on Radio 4’s Today Programme following the publication of the Lloyds house prices index, which showed prices edged up in June following several months of falls.

He was asked on the programme about how he sees the current market compared to his previous stint as Purplebricks co-founder.

He expects the slowdown to be temporary. He said: “Naturally, where you have events such as the World Cup, coupled with the great weather that we are getting currently, it does have a short-term impact.’

“I expect that in the second half of this year that will come back, but in the last month or so, that has had an impact.”

Events such as the World Cup, coupled with the great weather, has a short-term impact.”

Bruce argued that confidence, rather than house prices or interest rates, is the real engine of the housing market.

He said: “When people feel confident about their finances, and the future, they move.”

He added that sentiment had shifted slightly in recent weeks.

“Wars, oil crisis, rising interest rates – all those things changing slightly in the last four weeks or so, have definitely made an impact in terms of people feeling a little bit more confident,” he said.

House prices

His comments come as the Lloyds data showed the average property price edged up to £299,330 in June, from £298,812 in May.

It is a 0.2% monthly gain that ended a run of four consecutive months without growth.

Annual house price growth also ticked up marginally to 0.6%, but the figures remain modest due to stretched affordability and high borrowing costs.