The Nationwide House Price Index has been released for Quarter 2 for 2012, and it shows price falls for much of the country.
Nine out of the thirteen UK regions saw annual price falls for Q2. The average UK house price for the quarter was £164,955. Prices have fallen by 1% compared to Q1.
Only London, the West Midlands and Outer Metropolitan recorded price rises over the quarter. London performed most strongly, with a 1% change and average house prices of £302,399.
The weakest performing area is Scotland, where there was a quarterly price change of -2.0% and average house prices of £136,182.
Nationwide’s Chief Economist Robert Gardner commented:
“Average house prices in the UK fell by 1.0% in the second quarter of the year, after allowing for usual seasonal effects. Prices were down 1.1% compared with the same quarter in 2011.
“London saw the strongest quarterly growth rate, with prices up 1.0% quarter-on-quarter. Whilst the annual rate of growth moderated a little from 2.3% to 1.2%, average prices in the capital have now virtually recovered to their 2007 peak.
“The north/south divide amongst the English regions continued in Q2, with house price growth in southern England (South West, Outer South East, Outer Metropolitan, London and East Anglia) exceeding that of northern England (West Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside, North West and North) for the thirtieth consecutive quarter. The North West was the worst performing English region, with prices down 4.1% year-on-year.
“Scotland was the worst performing area on a quarterly basis, with prices falling 2.0% during the second quarter. This pushed the annual rate of change down to -2.3%.
“Wales saw a third successive quarter of price falls, with a seasonally adjusted fall of 1.1% in Q2. On an annual basis, prices were down 5.3% compared with 2011.
“Northern Ireland continued to see price falls, with average prices down 10.6% year-on-year.”
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