House price growth ‘eased off at end of 2006’

The rate of house price inflation slowed slightly towards the end of 2006, says the Land Registry for England and Wales.

The new monthly house price index showed that the annual rate of house price growth dropped slightly, from 7% in October to 6.8% in November. This reflects a new sense of calm in the English and Welsh property markets.

The average house price now stands at £172,006. Prices for terraced houses are rising faster than other types of home.

London saw the most noticeable slowdown, where the annual rate of increase fell from 9.6% to 7.8%. This contradicts other recent surveys that have suggested the London property market was heating up again, due to the impact of large bonuses given to thousands of investment bank staff in the city.

Although price growth slowed down in England and Wales in November, the Land Registry study also showed that house prices were still rising twice as fast as in 2005.

Throughout England and Wales in September, the last month for which transaction volume figures are available, there were just 1104 sales below £50,000. Londoners are seeing the rapid disappearance of properties selling for anything less than £150,000.

This may lead to increased opportunities for lower cost housing development in London and throughout the South of England in the future

« back to development finance news