Land Registry data shows UK house prices fell by 2.5% in past year

Thursday, 28 July 2011 12:05

The latest report from the Land Registry’s House Price Index shows that prices over the last 12 months have fallen by 2.5 per cent leaving the cost of the average property to £161,479.

There was no change in the month from May to June.

The only area in the UK to see a rise in house prices over the next 12 months is London, which averaged a 0.8 per cent increase in the year to June 2011.

The North-East had the worst figures for the year and the month. The annual decrease in house prices was 7.1 per cent and the monthly fall was 2.1 per cent.

The report reveals that completed house sales in April 2011, the latest month data is available for, fell by seven per cent to 48,704 from 52,272 in April 2010.

Nicholas Ayre, director of UK buying agents Home Fusion, commented: "There's plenty here for the doomsayers to get their teeth stuck into. In June the national figure was totally flat, and even in the London bubble, average prices fell for a second month.

"But just a quick health warning - the data can be fickle. Just as your car's fuel gauge becomes unreliable when the engine's running on empty, so these figures have less value when the number of sales is so low.

"Outside London, demand has fallen off a cliff, and unsurprisingly, so have prices. Even within the London microcosm, we're seeing a big divergence between the prime market and the rest.

"Less fashionable areas appear more of a buyers' market, with a big gap opening between asking and sale prices. And because there is more supply and fewer buyers, those looking to buy can afford to be pickier.

"But for the country as a whole, the market is still desperately fragile. With lenders still reluctant to offer mortgages, and many who bought in the boom trapped in their current homes by negative equity, there's little chance it will perk up any time soon."

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