Fears that the housing market slowdown could lead to widespread falls in property prices have deepened after Land Registry data showed the long-exuberant London market was weaker than any other region in October. Financial Times
According to the Land Registry’s index, house prices in England and Wales rose just 0.1% last month, bringing the annual rate of house price inflation to 8.1%, the lowest level this year.
In London, the index showed a fall of 0.6% in house prices, the first monthly decline since April 2006 and the largest in more than two years. The figures are the first sign that the capital’s property market could be turning after a period of rampant price growth.
The figures are preliminary and the regional breakdown of monthly movements, based on a small proportion of total transactions, has regularly been revised by about half a percentage point in recent months.