UK house prices fell 0.1% in January, according to figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The figures, which are produced in conjunction with the Office of National Statistics, are based upon 'completions' data from about 50 mortgage lenders and so appear later than other indices.

The UK house price inflation rate fell from 10.7 per cent in December 2004 to 10.0 per cent in January 2005. This was due to a slight fall in prices, by 0.1 per cent between December and January compared with an increase in prices, by 0.6 per cent, over the same period last year.

The slight fall in UK prices between December and January can be attributed to falls in prices for detached houses, by 0.5 per cent, and semi-detached houses, by 0.1 per cent, that have been partially offset by rises in prices of terraced houses, by 0.3 per cent, and flats, by 0.3 per cent.

All the home countries except for Wales saw a fall in their annual inflation rate in January. The inflation rate in Wales rose from 20.8 per cent in December to 21.3 per cent in January.

The inflation rate in England fell from 10.1 per cent in December to 9.4 per cent in January; in Scotland the rate fell from 13.6 per cent in December to 12.0 per cent in January; and in Northern Ireland the rate fell slightly from 16.0 per cent to 15.8 per cent over the same period.

Mix-adjusted average house prices in January were £190,611 in England, £140,920 in Wales, £116,467 in Scotland and £119,413 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in January was London at £258,709. The lowest average price was in the North East at £127,400.

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 fell from 13.3 per cent in December to 12.7 per cent in January. This was due to a fall of 0.5 per cent in prices between December and January, compared with a rise of 0.1 per cent seen over the same period last year.

The inflation rate for former owner-occupiers fell from 9.8 per cent in December to 8.9 per cent in January. This was due to a rise of just 0.1 per cent in prices between December and January, compared with a rise of 0.9 per cent over the same period last year.

The average price paid by first time buyers across the whole of the UK was £144,752 in January, while the average price paid by former owner-occupiers was £197,244.