These are the official land registry property figures for this month (April 2011) and they don’t make great reading.
February’s data shows a negative monthly house price change of -0.8 per cent. The average house price in England and Wales is now £162,215. The annual change is also negative, at -1.7 per cent.
This is the second month in a row in which the figure has been below zero and is also the largest fall since October 2009.
Sales volumes averaged 56,257 per month from September to December 2010. This is a fall from the 65,939 average for the same period 12 months before.
House prices in London show a divergence from the rest of the country. London experienced a positive annual house price change of 3.2 per cent in February, which is higher than any of the regions in England and Wales.
The annual increase for London is despite a monthly fall. The capital’s monthly change of -0.5 per cent brings the average property price to £341,048. In comparison, the figure for
England and Wales as a whole currently stands at £162,215
There are some key regional observations. Just two regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months.
The region with the highest annual price change is London with an increase of 3.2 per cent. And, the region with the greatest annual price fall is the North East with a movement of 7.1 per cent. The East experienced the greatest monthly rise, with a movement of 1.2 per cent. Yet, the North East is the region with the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -4 per cent.
There have been some increases such as in Solihull & Flintshire but we really can consider these to be aberrant.
Transaction volumes have been relatively consistent over the past six months. So, basically, the residential and commercial property market is no further advanced than it was six months ago.
