UK house prices fell 0.5% in February, according to figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The fall took the mix-adjusted average UK house price from £180,465 in January to £179,491 although this was not seasonally adjusted.

However, the figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also revealed that the annual house price inflation in Feb was 10.5%, up from 10.0% the previous month.

A skew in the market is revealed as the slight fall in UK prices between January and February can be attributed to falls in prices in all dwelling types except for flats. Prices fell for detached houses, by 1.2%, and semi-detached houses, by 0.6%. Prices for flats rose by 0.2%.

In the home countries, England and Scotland saw a rise in annual inflation in February, while Wales and Northern Ireland both saw a fall. The inflation rate in England rose from 9.4% in January to 9.8% in February; in Scotland the rate rose from 12.0% to 15.5% over the same period. The inflation rate in Wales fell from 21.3% in January to 18.1% in February; and in Northern Ireland the rate fell from 15.8% to 11.5% over the same period.

Although there was a small rise in annual house price inflation for England in February, there was no clear regional pattern. The highest inflation rates were in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber (both at 18.2%) and the North West (16.7%). Inflation rates in the West Midlands, the East Midlands and the South West range between 10 and 13%. Inflation was below 10% in the East and London and lowest in the South East, where inflation fell from 5.3% in January to 5.0% in February - due to a greater fall in prices between January and February this year compared with the same period last year.

House prices: regional

Mix-adjusted average house prices in January were £189,249 in England, £140,955 in Wales, £115,294 in Scotland and £119,596 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in January was London at £262,138. The lowest average price was in the North East at £125,699.

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 from 12.7% in January to 15.4% in February. This was due to a fall of just 0.1% in prices between January and February, compared with a greater fall of 2.4% seen over the same period last year.

The inflation rate for former owner-occupiers fell from 8.9% in January to 8.7% in February. This was due to a fall of 0.7% in prices between January and February, compared with a fall of 0.5% over the same period last year.

The average price paid by first time buyers across the whole of the UK was £145,887 in February, while the average price paid by former owner-occupiers was £194,701.