House Prices Increased Slightly in December

House prices increased by 0.1 percent in December, the latest  figures from the Land Registry show.

December showed a small rise in house prices across the United Kingdom, according to the Land Registry House Price Industry.  The average house now costs £161,783 which represents an annual price increase of 2.5 per cent.

This is the first positive annual house price change since May 2008 and the December rise is the eighth month in a row in which the monthly change has been above zero.

Seven regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months. The region with the highest annual price change is London with an increase of 6.1 per cent. The region with the most significant annual price fall was Wales with a reduction of -2.5 per cent.

Both the North East and the West Midlands experienced the greatest monthly rises with movements of 1.9 per cent.  Wales was the region with the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -2 per cent.

House prices respond to overall activity in the market. The number of house sales still remains low compared to the volume of transactions in previous years, however there has been more interest from buyers in recent months as during October 2009 the number of completed house sales in England and Wales rose by 34 per cent to 59,482 from 44,530 in October 2008.

Along with some increased interest in the housing market, buyers are also seeing some cheaper mortgage products emerging from lenders responding to slightly more favourable credit conditions. For example, Yorkshire Building Society have just announced two market beating fixed rate mortgage deals.