The Land Registry House Price data for January shows that 2007 has begun with another rise in house prices for England and Wales. The first month of the year demonstrates an annual house price increase of 7.7% and a monthly increase of 0.9%. This increase has led to the average property now being worth £174,827. This month is the first time since May 2005 that house prices have experienced annual price growth of greater than 7% in two consecutive months. In January 2006 the rate of annual change in house prices was 3.6% compared with 7.7% for January 2007.
As with last month, the London property market continues to outperform the rest of the country. London can be seen along side Yorkshire & The Humber and the South East as the most consistent drivers behind recent national house price growth. The rate of annual increase in London's house prices has been greater than that of England and Wales since March 2006. London's annual growth this month is 9.9% compared with the 7.7% increase of England and Wales as a whole.
The key regional observations were:
* All regions in England and Wales experienced average price increases over the last twelve months.
* The region with the highest annual price change is London with an increase of 9.9%.
* The region with the lowest annual price rise is the North East, with an increase of 5.0%.
* Yorkshire and the Humber experienced the highest monthly change, with an increase of 2.2%.
* The East Midlands experienced the lowest price change this month with a movement of 0.3%.
