House prices drop 16.5%, transactions fall further

Posted: 01 Apr 2009 12:20:50 GMT

Average property prices continued to fall significantly this year, research from the Land Registry has shown, highlighting a drop of two per cent between January and February this year.

The figures for England and Wales show a mixed state of house prices in the UK, as the smallest monthly falls were just one per cent in the South West, Yorkshire and the Humber, compared with the 4.1 per cent drop recorded in the North West.

Perhaps more striking than the falling house prices, which recorded an average annual fall of 16.5 per cent, were the reductions in the number of houses sold.

"The most up-to-date figures available show that during December 2008 the number of completed house sales fell by 55 per cent to 36,341 from 81,300 in December 2007," a statement from the Land Registry read.

"In London 3,957 house sales were completed in December 2008 compared with 9,543 in December 2007. This represents a fall of 59 per cent."

With property transactions themselves at such a low, selling a home online could be the best way to attract the highest number of potential buyers.



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