Land Registry confirms house price drop
The Land Registry has reported house prices fell in February, following five consecutive monthly increases.
The index follows those issued by lenders Halifax and Nationwide, which both reported prices fell in February for the first time in more than six months, by -1.5 per cent and -1 per cent respectively.
The Land Registry index lags behind those from the lenders by almost a month, and covers England and Wales rather than the whole of the UK. It puts the average value of a property at £164,455, and says prices have risen 7 per cent over the last year.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, suggested the falls could be short lived, following the Budget announcement that stamp duty is being temporarily lifted for first-time buyers purchasing homes for less than £250,000.
He said: ‘The increase in demand should provide some renewed upward pressure on house prices although we expect this to be partly offset by the increasing amounts of property that is being put on the market.’
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