East Anglia house prices "flat"

House prices saw a national uplift for the first time in nine months in February but monthly prices were flat in East Anglia, property analyst Hometrack said.

Prices increased by 0.1% month-on-month across England and Wales, marking the first upturn since May last year, with 15% of postcodes recording rises and 8% seeing prices fall.

However, 74% of the local areas showing increases were in London and the South East, Hometrack said. Prices in London increased by 0.3%, while those in the South East followed closely with a 0.2% rise.

Wales was the only other area to record a monthly increase, at 0.1%. Monthly prices were flat in East Anglia, the Midlands and the South West, fell by 0.1% in the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside, and dropped by 0.2% in the North East.

Hometrack said that activity is set to grow in the housing market moving into spring and that prices in London and the South are likely to be held up by a lack of sellers putting their homes on the market.

It said that some potential sellers in the South are being put off coming to market by a stamp duty rate of 7% which was placed on houses worth more than £2 million last March.