Property prices dipped between February and March, the Land Registry says.
Its latest figures show that average house prices fell 0.2% on a monthly basis in March to £226,798, leaving annual house inflation up at 1.4%.
The March fall follows that in February, when prices were down 0.6% on a monthly basis.
House price growth was strongest in Yorkshire and The Humber where prices increased by 3.6% in the year to March to £162,129, followed by Northern Ireland, increasing by 3.5% annually to £134,811, and the west midlands where prices were up 3.4% annually to £196,571.
The poorest annual performance was in London, where prices fell by 1.9% annually to £463,283.
Provisional sales volumes for January – based on around 85% of registered transactions for the month – showed transactions in England and Northern Ireland down 1.7% and 6% respectively on an annual basis.
In contrast, transactions were up 10.3% annually in Scotland and grew by 0.6% in Wales.
Commenting on the figures, Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson Stops, said: “Although it’s disappointing that the latest data from March is showing monthly dips as opposed to a spring bounce, it is positive to see some regions across the country continuing to battle against the background drone of Brexit.”
Comments (2)
See what the elections results are on Sunday as a rough guide to the future.
My bets are on a minority Labour government later this year with greatly reduced number of Conservative MPs and the balance of power being held by the Liberal Democrats (who will be up to around 40 seats) and the Scots Nats. Because we will have had a People’s Vote a month or so before which will have resulted in a vote of 59% to 41% to remain in the EU, the now lacklustre Brexit party will have about a dozen seats taken mainly from the Tories. Because most MPs (even a small minority of Tory ones) support electoral reform and the current system having being proved unfit for purpose, a Bill will be put on the table for a radical reform of the electoral system to bring it into the twenty-first century and make Parliament more representative and responsive. Corbyn will be ousted by Labour moderates and Hilary Benn will become PM, bringing Labour back to the centre-left and a more balanced landlord/tenant relationship on the housing front will result than we have had under this bizarre Conservatve regime.
If anyone wants to see my crystal ball, I charge £500 a go! (lot less than buyers’ premiums under the “Modern” method of auction!).
Top end in London has a way to go yet. General Election will come this year. Tory vote will split between it and Brexit Party and Corbyn will be PM. All the people on these forums whining about the “property unfriendly” current Government will look back on today as a golden age once John McDonnell is Chancellor. I reckon the LVT alone will knock another 20% off central London while all the people who can’t afford it sell up. And as for “foreign buyers” I reckon a Corbyn government will introduce new measures to stop them using London property for money laundering.