House prices 'still growing in east and north-west'

New statistics have revealed that the east and the north-west saw annual house price growth in the year to July.

Although the UK average house price fell by 0.3 per cent in the year to July 2008, the east and the north-west recorded growth of 0.8 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively, according to the department for communities and local government.

The lowest annual house price growth was seen in the north-east (-1.0 per cent), Yorkshire and the Humber (-1.3 per cent) and the south-west (-1.9 per cent), statistics showed in the department's mix-adjusted house price series.

According to the release, first-time buyers across the whole of the UK paid an average of £160,414 during the month of July, while the average price paid by former owner occupiers was £250,850.

In August, Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said that price of a typical house fell by 1.9 per cent in August, which brought the annual fall into double digits for the first time since the end of 1990.

The building society claimed that he price of a typical house has fallen by 10.5 per cent over the last 12 months to £164,654.