House prices in England and Wales have fallen by some -£1,100, or -0.3%, in the month of September, according to the latest data from e.surv.
With the average price now at £366,348, down 2.9% annually, prices are now falling at the fastest rate since 2009.
On a regional level, all 14 of the 14 constituent areas in the South West saw their prices fall over the previous 12 months.
The three constituent areas in the South West with the largest price falls over the year were Wiltshire, -9.4%, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, -8.0% and Gloucestershire, -4.8%.
The two areas with a positive change in their annual growth rates over the previous 12 months were Yorkshire and the Humber at a modest +0.9%, and the East Midlands at +0.4%.
The East Midlands has been in one of the top five places in the above League Table for each of the last 15 months, while for Yorkshire and the Humber it has been in one of the top five places for the last seven months.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, it is the City of York that takes top place, with annual growth of +4.4%, while in the East Midlands the top place is Rutland with annual growth of +19.8%.
In Greater London prices have fallen by an average -0.4% over the previous 12 months, compared to +0.7% one month earlier.
In fact, only five of the 33 London boroughs have seen prices rise over the previous 12 months, but the five include the City of London, at +21.9%, the City of Westminster, at +18.4% and Richmond-upon-Thames, at a more modest +3.2%, with these three boroughs being in the top five London boroughs when ranked by their average property values.
The remaining two boroughs of the five seeing prices rise over the year were Havering, ranked 28th by its property value, at 2.6%, and Lewisham, ranked 24th by its property value, at +0.3%.
Richard Sexton, director at e.surv, said: “Although September saw a less severe drop in house prices compared to August, house prices in England and Wales fell at their fastest pace over the last 12 months since 2009.
“Our data, which includes cash purchases, shows that house prices have fallen by some -£1,122, or -0.3%, in September, the fourth largest monthly fall of 2023. Prices have now dropped every month since November 2022.
“However, we should see this in the context that prices are still above the level they initially were when the Bank of England started tightening interest rates in December 2021.”
He added: “Regionally, Yorkshire and Humber and the East Midlands continue to perform relatively well with house prices maintaining steady growth and outpacing other regions of the UK.
“The South West saw the biggest fall in annual house prices, of 2.4% more than July of this year.
“The fall in UK house prices is largely down to the higher cost of mortgage finance plus the squeeze on disposable incomes from the higher cost of living. Across the UK’s biggest lenders, the average mortgage rate for a 5-year fix with a 75% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) currently sits at 5.1%, the lowest since July 2023, according to the Bank of England.”
Sexton concluded: “The pause in base rate hikes and increasing competition in the mortgage market may see a return of some buyers who delayed their home moving decisions earlier in the year now returning to the market.
“However, many other buyers are still waiting for mortgage rates to come down further and for the right property to become available. This suggests that there is a pent-up demand for housing that could be released in the coming months if market conditions continue to improve.”
