House Price Update to 29 September 2010

UK House Prices Situation: Prices fall slightly in September

UK House Prices Forecast: Generally weak across UK

Prices Up 0.3% in August Says Land Registry

Average house prices inched up by 0.3% in August, leaving the annual rate of change at 6.7%, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry. The Land Registry records completed sale prices for all homes in England and Wales.

However, this positive headline figure conceals a mixed bag of regional statistics. Prices only rose in five out of ten regions in August, with the South West, North East, North West, East and Yorkshire & Humber all seeing falls. The Midlands fared best, with the West Midlands seeing an average increase of 1.2% and the East Midlands of 1.1%.

Despite this, average prices have risen in every region of England and Wales over the last year, according to the Land Registry figures. Regional gains vary from 1.6% in the North East to 11.4% in London.

Hometrack Figures Show Fall In September

The latest figures from property intelligence service Hometrack shows that average house prices fell in September across all regions. Average prices were down -0.4% and prices fell in 34% of postcodes, according to the Hometrack survey, which gathers market data from estate agents and surveyors across the UK.

Hometrack also found that the number of new buyers registering with agents has fallen 6.5% over the last three months – while at the same time, the number of properties coming to market has risen by 7.2%. This alone accounts for some of the growing weakness estate agents are observing – as we've commented before, more properties and fewer buyers will inevitably cause downwards pressure on house prices.

Read about UK House Price indexes / key statistics that track the ups and downs of house prices

Read our take on the Credit Crisis the effect on UK House Prices and Mortgages. A Special Report

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