The latest figures released by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister show that house prices fell 0.3% between September and October, compared to a rise of 0.7% seen over the same period last year. The UK house price inflation rate fell from 3.3% in September 2005 to 2.2% in October 2005.

Annual house price inflation in London was -0.2%; down from 1.9% in September. The UK annual house price inflation rate for the 3 months to October was 2.8% and 0.8% in London.

The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in October 2005 stood at £186,103, down slightly from £186,755 in September 2005 (not seasonally adjusted).

UK annual house price inflation (all dwellings)

The fall in UK prices between September and October can be attributed to falls in average prices for most dwelling types. In particular, prices for detached houses fell by 0.6%, terraces, by 0.5%. Prices for flats rose by 0.1%.

In the home countries, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland saw falls in annual inflation in October, while inflation in Wales rose. The inflation rate in England fell from 2.5% in September to 1.3% in October; in Scotland the inflation rate fell from 10.2% to 9.1%; and in Northern Ireland fell from 16.7 to 11.1. Over the same period, in Wales the rate rose from 7.3% to 9.8%.

House price inflation fell in six of the English regions but rose in the other three. The highest inflation rates remain in the north in North East (8.7%), Yorkshire and the Humber (7.2%) and North West (6.4%). Inflation rates were much lower in the East Midlands (1.4%) and West Midlands (0.9%).

House prices in the South West were unchanged over the previous year and inflation rates in the East, South East, and London were -1.0, -0.4 and -0.2% respectively.

The inflation rate for London fell below zero because prices fell between September and October by 1.2% compared with a rise of 0.8% in the same period last year.

Mix-adjusted average house prices in October were £194,824 in England, £152,078 in Wales, £128,029 in Scotland and £134,167 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in October remains London at £266,540. The lowest average price was in the North East at £136,389.

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

House price inflation by type of buyer

The UK house price inflation rate for first-time buyers remained at 5.0% between September and October. This was due to similar small changes in prices between September and October in the properties bought by first-time buyers, both this year and last year.

The inflation rate for former owner-occupiers fell from 2.7% in September to 1.2% in October. This was due to a small fall of 0.4% in prices between September and October in the properties bought by former owner-occupiers, compared with a rise of 1.1% over the same period last year.

The average price paid by first-time buyers across the whole of the UK was £152,331 in October, while the average price paid by former owner-occupiers was £201,374.

UK annual house price inflation by type of buyer       12-month percentage change