The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in January 2004 stood at £163,645, up from £162,654 in December (not seasonally adjusted) reported the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister this morning.

UK annual house price inflation in January 2004 was 9.7 per cent, up from 8.3 per cent in December.

Annual house price inflation in London was 5.0 per cent in January 2004, up from 3.8 per cent in December.

The UK house price inflation rate of 1.4 per cent increase in January was mainly caused by an increase of 0.6 per cent in prices between December and January, compared with a fall of 0.7 per cent over the same period last year.

Regional

All four home countries saw a rise in annual inflation. The rise was strongest in Scotland, up from 15.5 per cent in December to 23.3 per cent, and lowest in Northern Ireland, up from 5.6 per cent to 6.1 per cent. Annual inflation in Wales was 19.3 per cent, up from 17.8 per cent in December.

Annual inflation in England rose from 7.7 per cent in December to 8.8 per cent in January, and this increase was reflected in all the English regions except for the East and the East Midlands. House price inflation in the North East (26.7 per cent), the North West (20.0 per cent) and

Yorkshire and the Humber (19.7 per cent), remain substantially higher than in the rest of England. By contrast, inflation in London, the East, the South East and the South West were all under 10 per cent, with the lowest rate shown in the East, at 4.0 per cent.

House prices: regional

Mix-adjusted average house prices in January were £173,490 in England, £114,949 in Wales, £105,129 in Scotland and £106,901 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in January was London at £242,555. The lowest average price was in the North East at £106,703.

Only the East, London, South East and the South West had average prices above the UK average.

House price inflation: type of buyer

The UK house price inflation rate for first time buyers rose to 12.1 per cent in January from 6.0 per cent in December.

This is due to a slight increase in prices between December and January, whereas prices fell by 5.3 per cent over the same period last year. In contrast, the inflation rate for former owner-occupiers fell, from 9.7 per cent in December to 8.7 per cent in January.

The average house price in the UK for first time buyers stood at £127,389 in January, while the average price paid by former owner-occupiers stood at £188,021.