Property prices in England and Wales stayed fairly constant during September to record an annual rise of 3.5% in comparison to one year ago. However, there are regional variations, according to the latest Your Move Index.
Ups and downs
The average price of a property now stands at £292,763, making the typical price of a property almost £10,000 more than a decade ago. Some regions are seeing strong annual growth, but prime property in London has seen the biggest slowdown.
Further analysis of the Your Move figures indicates that London saw average property prices fall month-on-month to £580,930. Prices were also down by 0.3% in Wales, the South West and Yorkshire and the Humber to hit £168,051, £265,170 and £176,174 respectively. In addition, prices slipped by 0.2% in the North East to hit an average of £145,623.
Locations where values increased the most were 0.3% in the North West, the West Midlands and the East of England, to reach averages of £177,670, £203,507 and £309,835 respectively. Prices also rose by 0.2% in the East Midlands to hit £193,601 and by 0.1% in the South East to reach £361,211.
Year-on-year, values increased most in the East of England. Annual growth here was 7.5%, closely followed by the South East (7.2%), the South West (4.2%) and the East Midlands (3.6%).
However, transaction numbers fell in September to around 74,000 sales.
Property price values stay fairly static in September
Established
Adrian Gill, director of Your Move estate agents, said: ‘We’re seeing a two speed market become firmly established as cheaper parts of the capital and the regions record price increases while prime London property stalls.’[1]
‘At the same time transaction levels are showing how much the market has changed, with the number of properties now held by private landlords changing market dynamics. This all creates big challenges for Government housing policies, which are going to have to be flexible enough to allow regions to make use of the solutions that work best for their different needs,’ he added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/house-prices-england-wales-flat-september-agents-index-shows/