Land Registry: House prices down 0.4%

Average house prices in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent during December, according to research released by the Land Registry today.

This is the first fall in prices recorded by the government organisation since a minor slowdown in 2005 – and adds further evidence to the gathering dark storm over the market.

The largest falls were recorded in the East Midlands, which saw prices decline 3.3 per cent, Wales (2.1 per cent) and the south-east (1.2 per cent).

However, prices in the north-east witnessed a 2.2 per cent increase, along with the east, which recorded gains of 1.1 per cent.

London saw increases of 0.6 per cent in prices over December; with annual growth now well ahead of the national average, at 14.3 per cent.

As a result of the 0.4 per cent national fall annual growth slipped back to 6.7 per cent, with the typical price of a property now standing at £184,469.

The 6.7 per cent annual increase in property prices can be attributed to a 5.8 and 4.4 per cent increase in the price of semi-detached and detached properties respectively.

This is in addition to a 7.9 per cent increase in the cost of terraced property and a 7.7 per cent climb in the price of flats.

Sales volumes also fell in England and Wales according to the Land Registry figures.

Some 103,374 sales were recorded in the months July to October 2007, the most recent period available, compared to 117,086 the previous year.

Sales fell fastest at the bottom end of the market with a 23 per cent fall in properties valued £150,001 – 200,000.

However, properties valued over £2 million saw an increase of 32 per cent in sales.