Rics responds to Land Registry house price data

Date:Monday 1st December 2008
Author: Susanna Kavka

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has commented on house price information published by the Land Registry.

New data from the Land Registry has shown that the average house price in England and Wales is £165,529 and that the average number of monthly transactions was 54,488 from May to August.

It also said that property prices are close to what they were in the summer of 2006.

According to Rics, London property prices "continue to hold up slightly better than all other regions" on a year-to-year basis.

This is despite the fact that prices in the capital dropped by close to two per cent in October, compared to the average figure of 1.5 per cent reported by the Land Registry.

Rics observed that the Land Registry's figures "tend to lag the cycle" due to the timing of their recording.

According to its statistics, which Rics said recorded a lower house price drop than HBOS and Nationwide, the annual fall in prices is 10.1 per cent.