The house price index produced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on an experimental basis shows house price inflation across the UK slowed slightly in the year to February.

The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in February 2006 stood at £183,224, down from £185,404 in January 2006 (not seasonally adjusted).

UK annual house price inflation in February 2006 was 3.6%, down from 4.3% in January 2006. Annual house price inflation in London was 1.9% in February 2006, down from 5.3% in January 2006.

The UK annual house price inflation rate for the 3 months to February 2006 was 3.6%, the same rate as in London.

UK annual house price inflation (all dwellings)

The fall in UK prices between January and February can be attributed to falls in average prices for all property types, in particular for flats (4.6%), detached properties (1.2%) and bungalows (1.1%).

In the home countries, England saw a fall in inflation in February, while inflation rose in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in February. The inflation rate in England fell from 3.7% in January to 2.8% in February. Over the same period, the inflation rate in Wales rose from 6.4% to 6.5%, in Scotland the rate rose from 10.5% to 11.5% and in Northern Ireland the rate rose from 12.5% to 15.8%.

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 Yorkshire and the Humber (8.6%), North West (7.8%) and in North East (7.0%). Inflation rates were much lower in other parts of England; in West Midlands (3.5%), South East (2.0%), London (1.9%), East Midlands (1.7%) and South West (1.3%).

The inflation rate for the East fell below zero because prices fell between January and February by 2.9% compared with a smaller fall of 0.2% in the same period last year. Except January, the inflation rate in this region has been negative each month since October.

Mix-adjusted average house prices in February were £191,563 in England, £148,562 in Wales, £129,020 in Scotland and £138,032 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in February remains London at £263,222. The lowest average price was in the North East at £133,348.

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

House prices: type of buyer

The UK house price inflation rate for first-time buyers fell from 5.2% in January to 4.1% in February. This was due to a fall of 1.2% in prices between January and February in the properties bought by first-time buyers compared with and a smaller fall of 0.1% over the same period last year.

The inflation rate for former owner-occupiers fell from 4.0% in January to 3.4% in February. This was due to a fall of 1.2% in prices between January and February in the properties bought by former owner-occupiers, compared with a smaller fall of 0.7% over the same period last year.

The average price paid by first time buyers across the whole of the UK was £141,069 in February, while the average price paid by former owner-occupiers was £201,206.

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