House prices fell in seven out of ten regions

Figures from the Land Registry have shown that in September, house prices fell in seven out of ten regions in England and Wales, with overall prices down by 0.2%. Annual house price inflation also fell from 8.4% in August, to 7.2% in September, taking the average property in England and Wales to £177,299. The largest monthly decline was in Yorkshire and Humberside, where prices fell by 2.2%, while the average price in greater London dropped by 0.7% or more than £6,500, during the month. Meanwhile, according to the Registers of Scotland, the average cost of a property in Scotland between July and September was £170,190, up 5.2% on the same period in 2013. The total volume of sales was also up, with an increase of 9.1% on the same quarter in the previous year. A separate report by CBRE has shown that house prices are a third cheaper in locations 30 to 35 minutes’ commute from central London, and that an increase of one minute in travel time reduced a house’s value by about £11,400.