House price growth ‘fell in August’

House price growth slowed in August, with an 0.2% rise in prices, compared to a 0.8% rise for July, according to figures from the Land Registry. The annual change for August now stands at 9.4%, from 9.5% this time last year, putting the average house price at £182,914. This data also provides continuing evidence of a growing disparity between London and the rest of the country: for the fifth month in a row, the rate of increase for London house prices remains over 6%per annum greater than that of England and Wales as a whole. In fact with an annual price change of 16.7%, London is firmly ahead of the rest of the UK. The average price of a house in London is now £349,838. Regionally the picture is mixed, and London?s buoyant picture is not echoed in all regions in England and Wales. The Land Registry found that falls occurred month on month in the East, the South West, Wales, the North East and the East Midlands, which experienced the largest negative price movement with a change of -1.1%. No county has experienced negative annual house price growth. Experts said this data only serves to confirm that the market has slowed: ?The mixed picture of regional house price growth is, of course nothing new,? said Seema Shah, from Capital Economics. ?Yet the breadth of regional house price falls is something which has only come about in the past few months and it has coincided with the growing stream of evidence that activity at the start of the house-buying process has slowed, although we cannot rule out a reversion of he falls in the regions in the next month.?