Land Registry: house prices up in January but down annually

The Land Registry's latest figures show a small monthly price rise, but prices in most areas falling year-on-year.

House prices in England and Wales rose slightly in January, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry, but annually prices fell by 1%.

Property sales are increasing, with an average of 60,422 sales a month between August and November 2011, compared to 58,485 sales in the same period in 2010.

But London and the south east of England are the only areas where prices have risen annually, by 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

The north east of England, where prices are down by 4.5%, and the north west, where prices have fallen by 4.2%, have seen the largest annual price falls.

Here’s how prices have performed across England and Wales over the past year:

Region	% annual change	Average price
London	2.9%	£351,305
South East	0.5%	£207,761
East of England	-0.4%	£173,412
South West	-0.6%	£173,090
West Midlands	-2.2%	£128,803
East Midlands	-2.7%	£123,142
Yorkshire and the Humber	-3.7%	£119,014
Wales	-3.8%	£117,078
North West	-4.2%	£109,866
North East	-4.5%	£102,066

Here’s what the main indices said about annual house price changes in January:

Index	% change in annual house prices
Land Registry*	-1%
Halifax	-1.8%
Nationwide	0.6%
Hometrack*	-1.6%

*Prices for England and Wales only

Looking at the Land Registry January figures, every region bar the north west of England saw price increases. Whether that is a short-term bubble due to the end of the impending Stamp Duty holiday remains to be seen.

February’s report by property analysts Hometrack said that the percentage of asking prices achieved by sellers in England and Wales is growing slightly, but again this may be only temporary. It reported a flat market overall.

More: How to sell your home in a slump | Second steppers hit hardest by housing market malaise

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