Regional house price survey from the Nationwide

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by Lin Freestone

The Nationwide has released its figures for the second quarter of the year, outlining the state of the property market throughout the UK.

Twelve out of 13 areas of the UK surveyed witnessed year-on-year drops in house prices during the months of April, May and June 2008.

The biggest falls in prices, year-on-year for the second quarter were in Sheffield, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester and Coventry.

The housing market in Scotland has been more resilient than elsewhere in the UK. It was the only area to record an annual growth of 0.6%.

However, house prices in the second quarter fell by 1.8%. The strongest sub-region in Scotland is Aberdeenshire and Moray. This area has remained the strongest over the last few quarters.

House prices in Wales fell quite sharply over the quarter, down by 5.7% quarter-on-quarter, 7.6% lower than the same quarter in 2007. This leaves Wales with the lowest average house price among the four UK countries. The greatest weakness in value was in the eastern part of South Wales, where prices have dropped by 9%.

In London, house prices fell by a seasonally adjusted 3.8% from the previous quarter in 2007, leaving them 2.3% lower than at the same time last year.

The biggest annual price rises for the second quarter were to be found in the university cities of Cambridge, Canterbury and Oxford, followed by Carlisle and Aberdeen.