Land Registry reports 10.1% annual fall in house prices

Latest figures from the Land Registry show house prices in England and Wales falling by an annual 10.1%, in October.

The average value of a home declined 1.5% during the month, to £165,529, a figure last seen in mid-2006.

The Registry compiles its data from completed transactions and therefore lags behind other monitors of the housing market.

By comparison, the Halifax house price index showed a 2.2% fall in the average cost of a UK home, in October, giving an annual fall of 13.7% and taking the average cost of a property back to its October 2005 level of £168,031.

Returning to the Land Registry analysis, in October, all areas of England and Wales experienced house price falls on both a monthly and annual basis.

In Wales the annual decline was at its steepest, at 12%, followed by the South West (11.5%) and the East (11.2%).

Wales also recorded the biggest monthly fall with property prices edging back a further 2.8%, followed by the South West and North East, which both recorded a drop of 2.1%.

London showed more promise, with a monthly fall of 1.9%, annual fall of 8.6% and the average house price at £320,774, in October.

On an annual basis, house prices in England and Wales have now fallen for the 14th consecutive month, however, Nationwide reported earlier this week that the slide in prices levelled off slightly in November, with the average value of a home declining just 0.4%.

The fall compares with a drop of 1.3% registered by the building society in October and brings the annual percentage loss for November to 13.9%, compared with 14.6% in October.

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