Mortgage News
Land Registry: House prices fall 0.8% in October
Land Registry figures have revealed monthly house prices dropped 0.8% across England and Wales in October.
Annual house price inflation was 3.4% in October, taking the average property price to £165,505 for the month.
The Land Registry index showed that eight out of the ten regions of England and Wales saw house prices increase over the last 12 months. London recorded the highest annual price change with a growth of 7.6%, giving an average property price in the capital of £341,105.
However, the North East and North West have seen property prices fall over the last year, down 0.9% and 0.8% respectively.
Both regions also have the lowest average house prices in England and Wales. The average North West property is worth £117,868, while in the North East it is £109,238.
While the East saw the greatest monthly price increase in October of 1%, Yorkshire and the Humber experienced the most significant monthly fall out of all the regions, down 1.8%.
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The Land Registry’s most up-to-date data showed that during August completed house sales rose 1% year-on-year to 58,783 compared to 58,270 in August 2009. However, this was notably down on July 2010’s figure of 65,825.
In addition, the number of properties in England and Wales sold for more than £1m increased by 44% year-on-year in August 2010 to 731 compared to 506 for the same month of 2009.
Alison Beech, business relationship director of Valunation, said: “Uncertainty about the market and concerns over household income and job security is causing an aversion to moving home. Some households have little room for financial manoeuvre and find themselves trapped in their mortgages. Would-be first-time buyers have little chance of raising a sufficient deposit to obtain a mortgage.
“With banks suggesting this week that mortgage lending will not improve in 2011, the future looks bleak. The FSA’s recent warning that it will require even stricter assessments of mortgage applicants could be the nail in the coffin for this generation of potential first-time buyers, which will have a deeply negative impact on the property market as a whole.”