Over six years since the start of the financial crisis, residential property prices remain significantly below the level reached at the peak of the housing market in 2007, with prices still falling in parts of the country, new data shows.
According to the latest figures from the Land Registry, which, unlike other measures of the housing market, are based on actual sale prices, there was a slight decline in property prices in England and Wales between February and March.
The data, which also include cash buyers, accounting for as much as a third of property sales, reveals that prices dropped by 0.4%, bringing the average price of a residential property to £169,124. This compares to £181,618 at the peak of the market in November 2007.
The report follows similar data from the UK’s largest mortgage lenders, the Halifax and the Nationwide, which suggested the housing market in England and Wales may have cooled slightly over the spring period.
However, the figures from the Land Registry show a continuing increase in the annual inflation rate, to 5.6%.
“The Land Registry data add to other signs that some of the froth may have recently come off the housing market – at least temporarily,” said Howard Archer, chief UK economist with IHS Global Insight.
Despite the fall in house prices, the figures are not a “set back” for the housing market, according to David Newnes, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains.
He commented: “The property market recovery is still progressing steadily towards full health, with average house prices up 5.6% year-on-year. And importantly the tendrils of the housing recovery continues to unfurl across the country. It is particularly encouraging to see the North East experience one of the biggest monthly rises in property values.”