Government figures put house price decline at 7.4%

Official figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show that in October, the average cost of a UK home had fallen 7.4% from a year earlier.

The monthly fall stood at 2.5% taking the average cost of a property to £203,539; London remained the UK’s most expensive city with an average house price of £318,831.

The DCLG figures show that the decline has escalated, with 5.3% shaved off house prices in the three months to the end of October, compared to 1.6% over the previous quarter.

Regionally, Northern Ireland experienced the steepest annual decline at 20.5%, followed by Wales (7.8%), England (7.3%), and Scotland (4.5%).

Across England the East Midlands and the south-west saw the largest year-on-year fall, at 9.5%. The north-west saw the smallest fall at 5.6%.

The market has reacted to the shortage of first-time buyers with prices on smaller properties falling by an annual 9.7%, whereas properties sold to existing homeowners fell in value by an average 6.6% during the year to the end of October.

By comparison, Halifax and Nationwide both reported annual falls in double figures in October.

Halifax estimated the annual decline at 13.7%, on a monthly fall of 2.2%, while Nationwide’s index gave an annual fall of 14.6%.

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