Land Registry bucks price rise trend
The Land Registry has recorded a 0.6 per cent fall in house prices for March, in contrast to the other major indices.
Hometrack, Nationwide and the Halifax recorded rises of 0.3 per cent, 0.7 per cent, and 1.1 per cent respectively for March.
Yesterday Nationwide reported its April figure, which found prices had risen 1 per cent across the UK, and returned to double digit annual growth for the first time since June 2007.
However today’s Land Registry figure, which covers prices across England and Wales in March, puts the annual price rise at 7.5 per cent.
According to the Land Registry, London and the north east saw the greatest monthly rise, at 1.6 per cent, with the east midlands seeing a fall of -2.1 per cent.
Martin Gahbauer, chief economist at Nationwide, said the 10.5 per cent annual growth recorded by the lender was partly due to a weak April last year, and would require monthly growth of more than 1 per cent to be sustained.
He said a ‘gradual flattening of the recent upward price momentum’ is more likely given current trends in the market.
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Readers' comments (3)
starry | 02/05/2010 11:28 am
The Land Registry records all ACTUAL transactions, many of which do not involve mortgage finance, lagging behind the other indices -in contrast Halifax and Nationwide indices are both based on mortgage activity; in other words the Land Registry records facts of the matter! Because of these differences, the actual reduction in house prices in many areas was not actually as great as reflected by the two finance led indices; it is not surprising now the market is rising again that they report a different trend. I would say therefore that the Land Registry has not not "bucked" the trend; it IS the trend. The other indices need therefore to be taken with a pinch of salt!
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Melvin Bone | 04/05/2010 9:49 am
I have to agree with starry, The Land Registry states the FACTS.
Hometrack, Nationwide and the Halifax are only players in the game.
The Land Registry IS the game.
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JohnL | 05/05/2010 11:16 pm
Just a small rider on Land Registry stats. There tends to be a delay in the SDLT forms being submitted. But at least it reflects the real world.
Nationwide and Halifax only report their own mortgages, so it is no surprise that variations in their stats will occur.
We all know that regional stats can skew even the best stats.
Here's to a solid and stable recovery over the next few years.
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