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House prices have continued their relentless downward spiral, according to new figures from the Land Registry…
House prices in England and Wales dropped by 0.4 per cent in December, taking the average price to £184,469, according to the latest figures from Land Registry.
It is the first fall for England and Wales since August 2005, although three regions bucked the downward trend. The largest monthly growth was seen in the North East, at 2.2 per cent.
The volume of transactions was also down on the same period last year, with an average of 103,374 per month in the months July to October 2007, compared with 117,086 per month from July to October 2006.
|
Region |
Monthly change (%) |
Annual change (%) |
Average price (£) |
|
North East |
2.2 |
6.6 |
132,840 |
|
East |
1.1 |
8.9 |
197,143 |
|
London |
0.6 |
14.3 |
354,625 |
|
Yorkshire & The Humber |
-0.3 |
4.8 |
145,188 |
|
West Midlands |
-0.3 |
4.8 |
154,470 |
|
North West |
-0.9 |
4.9 |
136,678 |
|
South West |
-1.0 |
6.0 |
196,062 |
|
South East |
-1.3 |
7.2 |
228,169 |
|
Wales |
-2.1 |
2.0 |
138,961 |
|
East Midlands |
-3.3 |
0.5 |
142,055 |
|
Average prices by property type ( England and Wales ) |
December 2007 |
December 2006 |
Difference (%) |
|
Detached |
£275,457 |
£263,758 |
4.4 |
|
Semi-detached |
£172,606 |
£163,079 |
5.8 |
|
Terraced |
£145,772 |
£135,042 |
7.9 |
|
Flat/maisonette |
£173,624 |
£161,245 |
7.7 |
|
All |
£184,469 |
£172,907 |
6.7 |
Howard Archer, chief UK economist, Global Insight, said it was clear the housing market had started 2008 as it ended 2007, under "substantial pressure".
"This adds to the already intense pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates by at least a further 25 basis points to 5.25% next week, and to enact further reductions thereafter," he said.
"However, inflationary concerns are likely to limit the pace of Bank of England interest rate cuts, so no more than a 25 basis point cut to 5.25% seems likely next Thursday," he added.
Global Insight now expects house prices to fall by 5% in 2008, having previously predicted a 3% drop. It believes the market is likely to remain muted in 2009.
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