The Department for Communities and Local Government has just published its latest Statistical Release, the House Price Index for December 2007. The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in December 2007 stood at £219,591, up from £218,662 in November 2007 (not seasonally adjusted). UK annual house price inflation in December 2007 was 9.1%, down from 9.7% in November 2007. Annual house price inflation in London was 13.5% in December, down from 14.5% in November. This is the second consecutive month that the annual house price inflation rate has fallen. The UK annual house price inflation rate for the 3 months to December was 10.0% and 15.2% in London.
The UK house price inflation rate fell from 9.7% in November 2007 to 9.1% in December 2007. Between November and December there was a rise of 0.4% in the prices index of properties bought compared with a larger rise of 0.9% over the same period last year resulting in a decrease in the inflation rate.
The rise in UK prices between November and December can be attributed to increases in average prices for detached houses (1.0%), terraced houses (0.6%), flats (0.5%) and semi-detached houses (0.2%). It is partly offset by a fall in the price of bungalows (2.3%).
England, Scotland and Northern Ireland saw decreases in house price inflation in December 2007. In England annual house price inflation fell from 9.3% in November to 9.0% in December; In Scotland annual house price inflation fell from 14.1% in November to 10.8% in December; In Northern Ireland annual house price inflation fell from 17.4% in November to 12.0% in December. Wales, though, saw an increase in house price inflation from 6.0% in November to 6.1% in December.
House price inflation fell in five of the English regions and rose in the other four regions. The highest inflation rate was in London (13.5 percent) followed by the South East (11.0%), and the East (8.4%). Inflation rates were lower in the South West (8.0%), East Midlands (7.4%) and the North West (6.7%). The lowest inflation rates were in Yorkshire and the Humber (5.8%), the North East (4.4%) and the West Midlands (4.0%).
