Annual house price growth falls for eighth consecutive month

The annual rate of house price growth fell for the eighth successive month during April, official figures showed today.

House price inflation fell to 2.7% over the month, its lowest level since November 2005, according to the Land Registry.

In April the average price of a home in England and Wales fell by 0.2% to £183,626, the Registry said.

The figures follow shock data from the Nationwide building society yesterday which showed a 2.5% fall in property values during May - leaving prices 4.4% lower than a year ago.

But these steep falls are yet to show up in the official data as the Land Registry measures completed sales rather than the point when mortgage applications are approved, as with Nationwide and Halifax figures.

The Land Registry figures showed five regions of falling prices during April, led by the West Midlands, which saw the biggest monthly fall at 1.2%.

This left prices in the region 0.1% lower than a year earlier. The East Midlands and Wales are also showing lower prices than 12 months ago - down 0.9% and 1.4% respectively.

Wrexham has seen the highest annual fall with prices on average 7.2% lower than a year ago. This contrasts with top performer Middlesbrough, with values 9.1% ahead of 12 months earlier.

London - previously the only region of England and Wales where annual price inflation remained in double digits - slipped 0.5% over the month, leaving annual growth at 6.8%. Prices in the Yorkshire & Humber were 0.4% lower in April.

In contrast the South East was the best performer, with prices up 0.5% on the month and 4.3% ahead of a year earlier. The average property in the region now costs £229,289.

Four other regions - the North West, South West, East and North West - also registered modest rises during the month.

The Land Registry figures also offered further evidence of the fall-off in mortgage availability as banks tighten up on lending following the credit crunch.

In the three months to February, the number of housing transactions fell to an average 72,479 a month - almost 30% lower than the volume of deals in the quarter to January.