House inflation slows in July
Higher interest rates are starting to have an impact on the housing market with latest figures from the Land Registry showing a slowdown in July. The fall would have been far steeper if it were not for London prices still rising strongly.
The Registry's survey of all completed property sales showed that prices rose by just 0.1% in July, dragging the annual inflation rate down from 9.1% to 8.8%. That figure, though, is heavily skewed by London, where prices rose by 15.5% over this time last year.
An average property in England and Wales now costs £181,460, but the figures show that the number of properties being sold is falling with the figures for May, the latest available number, down by 9%.
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All of decline in sales was for houses worth less than £200,000. More expensive houses continue to sell well, with 566 homes in England and Wales bought for more than £1m each during May, just over half of them in London.
"For the fourth month in a row the rate of increase for London house prices remains approximately 6% per annum greater than that of England and Wales as a whole," the Land Registry said.
The average house price in London has now reached £342,936 with only 74 properties sold for below £100,000 in May.
