LAND REGISTRY DATA: APRIL 2015 (released 1 June 2015)

The April 2015 Land Registry data show a rise of 0.9 per cent in house prices across England and Wales as a whole, compared to a fall of minus 0.8 per cent in March. London saw a monthly price increase of 2.3 per cent but Yorkshire & The Humber experienced a higher increase of 2.7 per cent; other regions saw increases of between 0.2 and 2.1 per cent except for the North East and Wales, which experienced falls of minus 0.5 and minus 1.1 per cent respectively.

On an annual basis, the increase for London was 10.9 per cent, followed by the South East region at 8.8 per cent, while the North East saw the only fall at minus 0.6 per cent. The overall annual growth in prices dropped for the seventh month in a row to 5.1 per cent making the average house price in England & Wales £179,817 and £474,544 in London. By property type, semi-detached properties continued to show the highest annual increase at 5.6 per cent.

In greater detail, 16 counties and unitary authorities saw an annual price fall, four fewer than in March, the greatest being Middlesbrough at minus 7.6 per cent, while Slough showed the highest annual rise at 13.7 per cent. Hartlepool experienced the strongest monthly growth with an increase of 4.1 per cent, while Ceredigion saw the most significant monthly fall with a movement of minus 6.1 per cent.

Trafford remained the metropolitan district showing the largest annual price rise at 9.8 per cent, while Bolton again experienced the greatest annual fall at minus 4.9 per cent. Barnsley saw the highest monthly price increase at 2.1 per cent, while Rochdale and Salford had the greatest monthly fall at minus 1.3 per cent.

Of the London boroughs, Newham maintained the highest annual price rise at 17.2 per cent, while Kensington & Chelsea continued to experience the lowest annual growth for the fifth month running at 4.4 per cent. On a monthly basis, Hackney again showed the highest increase at 2.1 per cent, while Waltham Forest had the greatest monthly fall at minus 1.8 per cent.

The volume of properties sold in February 2015 was 17 per cent lower than in February 2014 in England and Wales and 24 per cent lower in London; similarly, properties sold for more than £1 million fell by 18 per cent in England and Wales and by 20 per cent in London over the same period.

Month on month, the total number of properties sold across England and Wales increased by 1.8 per cent from 53,168 in January 2015 to 54,103 in February 2015, compared to a fall of nearly 25 per cent between December 2014 and January 2015. The overall increase was due to a rise in transactions at the lower end of the market, while the number sold for more than £1 million fell by 13 per cent. The number of property transactions from November 2014 to February 2015 averaged 64,196 per month, compared to 73,156 over the same period a year earlier.