Average house price drops 4.6 per cent

Annual house prices in England and Wales fell by 4.6 per cent in August to prices last seen in spring 2007, according to the latest figures from Land Registry.

The average house price is £174,493 which is also a decrease month-on-month of 1.9 per cent.

London also experienced a decrease in its average property value over the last 12 months, with a movement of -3.2 per cent - taking the average London house price to £336,620.

Hartlepool experienced the highest annual change with an increase of 4.8 per cent, taking its average property price to £117,350.

The most up-to-date figures available show that during June 2008 the number of completed house sales fell by 56 per cent to 54,072 from 123,293 in June 2007.