London the only UK region where property prices fell in 12 months to June, says ONS

The Office for National Statistics said the capital saw a 0.6% fall, the first time prices have fallen since before the pandemic in November 2019.
An average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate stood at 6.77% on Wednesday Credit: PA

London was the only region where property prices fell in the 12 months to June, latest figures show.

The Office for National Statistics said the capital saw a 0.6% fall, the first time prices have fallen since before the pandemic in November 2019.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “London is setting a fashionable trend that the rest of the UK may be doomed to follow.

“House prices in the capital have fallen in the year to June – for the first time since the market was effectively closed at the start of the pandemic.

“The country as a whole clung on to positive growth of less than 2% over the past 12 months, and the outlook for the coming months looks fairly grim.”

Sarah Coles pointed out that the data reflects house sales agreed as far back as March, when mortgage rates had come down from the peaks seen after September’s mini-budget and “the market looked more attractive”.

She added: “Since March, we know life has got tougher for buyers.”

The average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate stood at 6.77% on Wednesday.

Gabriella Dickens, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: While the drop in energy bills and strong wage growth should free up some cash to put towards housing costs, caution among households remains high and expectations that house prices will fall further are entrenched.”

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