Average home in England and Wales now at £185000

The latest House Price Index (HPI) from the Land Registry shows that residential property prices in England and wales rose by 4.2 percent in the year to August 2015 and by 0.5 percent in the month of August, when the price of an average house stood at £184,682.

The average house value in England and Wales costs £184,682, the Land Registry says.

“Annual growth in the North-east and North-west is way off the pace compared to the South”.

Month-on-month, house prices grew only 0.5 percent in August, slower than the 1.7 percent increase seen in July.

“London property continues to thrive however, and the imbalance in house prices between various regions means buyers in London and its commuter belt have been dealt the worst hand of all”.

The north west has seen the lowest annual price increase of 0.2 per cent but also the most significant monthly price decrease with a fall of 1.4 per cent in August. At 6.6 percent, the annual increase for London was higher than most other regions.

The Land Registry’s figures also revealed that the average number of monthly homes transactions was 65,550, as compared with 73,985 during the same period a year ago. “Given that house prices were soft in the latter months of 2014, this is likely to see annual house price inflation move higher over the coming months”, said Howard Archer, chief European and United Kingdom economist at IHS Global Insight.

John Eastgate, sales and marketing director of OneSavings Bank, said: “House prices are still rising, however it is encouraging to see some moderation in the rate of growth, with this being the slowest annual increase for two years, a statistic that will no doubt be well received by prospective buyers”.

Housing charity Shelter has suggested this shortage of homes available to buy is the main driver behind rising prices.

‘As a result, homes are becoming increasingly unaffordable, putting them out of reach for many aspiring homeowners.