House prices fell by 1.5% in October, and annually by 10.1%, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry. This is the 14th consecutive monthly fall, says the report, putting the average house in England and Wales now at £165,529, a level comparable to prices in the summer of 2006.
Price falls in London were steeper than the national average, with a monthly fall of -1.9%, but Wales saw the steepest falls of all, with a 2.8% monthly drop contributing to a 12% fall in prices year-on-year.
Sales volumes also remain low, the Land Registry confirmed.
Seema Shah, property economist at Capital Economics, said the figures paint a bleak picture going into 2009: ‘The outlook for house prices remains extremely bleak. In our view, neither the chancellor’s fiscal stimulus nor interest rate cuts will ward off a deep recession or prevent unemployment from rising, while the housing market still looks overvalued.
‘In short, further sharp house price falls are on their way.’
Give the very best of British life this Christmas – a subscription to Country Life
