London’s house prices fall as all other regions rise

House prices fell in London between September and October, making the capital the only region in the UK to report a decline, according to official data on Wednesday.

House prices in London fell 0.9 per cent in October compared with the previous month, in contrast with a 0.3 per cent increase across the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Average UK house prices increased by 12.6 per cent over the year to October 2022, up from 9.9 per cent in September 2022. However, Aimee North, the ONS’s head of housing market indices, explained that “this was mainly because of the sharp fall in house prices at the same time last year following the end of the stamp duty holiday.”

The average UK house price was £296,000 in October 2022, which was £33,000 higher than the same time last year and little changed from last month.

More timely measures of house price growth, including from the mortgage providers Nationwide and Halifax, showed house prices contracting in November following rising mortgage rates.

Mortgage rates have surged in the past few months, reflecting expectations of higher medium-term borrowing costs, as the Bank of England tackles high inflation.