The experimental house price index from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is out today. The index is for March as the index is compiled from completions.

The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in March stood at £161,306, up from £160,937 in February (not seasonally adjusted) and the house price inflation was 7.8 per cent, down from 9.8 per cent in February.

Annual house price inflation in London was 4.9 per cent in March, down from 5.7 per cent in February.

The ODPM index is showing much lower year-on-year inflation than other commercially available indices. This is caused by differences in weighting. The ODPM uses expenditure weights, whereas other indices use transaction weights. Consequently, the ODPM index is influenced by house price inflation rates in the higher priced areas (which are currently in the South) where house prices - and therefore total expenditure on house buying - is highest.

Similarly, regional inflation determined by the ODPM is more influenced by the market for the higher priced properties (i.e. the demand for detached houses).

House price inflation: regional

Apart from Northern Ireland, the home countries saw a fall in annual inflation. The largest fall was in Scotland, down from 26.2 per cent in February to 22.3 per cent; the smallest in Wales, down from 21.7 per cent to 20.5 per cent. Annual inflation in Northern Ireland was 7.6 per cent, up from 6.5 per cent in February.

Annual inflation in England fell from 8.7 per cent in February to 6.7 per cent in March. Apart from the South West, which saw inflation increase from 4.4 per cent to 4.6 per cent, inflation fell across all the regions.

The largest fall, in the West Midlands, was from 16.2 per cent to 10.2 per cent. However, house price inflation in the North East (26.2 per cent), the North West (19.1 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humber (17.9 per cent), remain substantially higher than in the rest of England. The East had the lowest rate of inflation in March, at 0.5 per cent.

House prices: regional

Mix-adjusted average house prices in March were £173,056 in England, £116,953 in Wales, £101,628 in Scotland and £102,657 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in March was London at £241,748. The lowest average price was in the North East at £110,910.

Only the East, London, South East and the South West had average prices above the UK average of £161,306.

House price inflation: type of buyer

The UK house price inflation rate for first time buyers fell to 10.0 per cent in March from 12.0 per cent in February. This was due to a marginal fall in prices between February and March, compared with an increase of 1.7 per cent over the same period last year.

The inflation rate for former owner-occupiers fell from 8.7 per cent to 6.7 per cent in March. This was due to an increase of 0.3 per cent in prices from February to March, compared with an increase of 2.3 per cent over the same period last year.

The average house price in the UK for first time buyers stood at £125,271 in March, while the average price paid by former owner-occupiers stood at £180,833.