Monthly house prices in England and Wales fell by 0.8 per cent in January, according to the latest figures from Land Registry. The average house price is now £156,753, down almost £28,000 on January 2008. This represents an annual decrease of 15.1 per cent.

In London the average price fell 14.1 per cent annually to £306,183. It is the seventeenth month in a row where the annual rate of change has fallen, in contrast to 21 months of uninterrupted increases in the average annual rate of change between December 2005 and August 2007.

Wales was the region to experience the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 8.8 per cent. However, this figure was due to the exceptionally small volume of sales so far recorded for the region in January. Rolling average figures for Wales indicate a monthly 1 per cent fall, which in this instance is a more reliable indicator of the underlying trend.

The most up-to-date figures available show that during November 2008 the number of completed house sales fell by 67 per cent to 33,404 from 100,730 in November 2007. In London only 3,504 house sales were completed in November 2008 compared with 12,719 in November 2007. This represents a fall of 72 per cent.