propertytalk Live! - Mixed property picture across UK regions in first quarter

propertytalk Live! - Mixed property picture across UK regions in first quarter

A mixed picture for UK property in the first quarter has been highlighted by Nationwide, with prices rising in eight out of 13 regions.

Yorkshire and Humberside saw the strongest quarterly price rise, while Northern Ireland suffered double digit price falls.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "Across the UK, prices rose by 1.0% in the first quarter of 2011, but this was not sufficient to prevent the annual rate of change slipping into negative territory, with prices down 0.3% year-on-year.

"Amongst the regions, Yorkshire and Humberside saw the strongest quarterly rise, with prices up 3.4%. This pushed up the annual rate of change to -0.9% from -3.6% last quarter.

"Northern Ireland remained the weakest region, with a 2.2% fall in the quarter pushing the annual rate of change down to -10.8%.

"The North was the weakest performing English region over both the quarter and the year, with prices down 1.5% year-on-year. The Outer Metropolitan region saw the strongest growth on an annual basis, with average prices 2.7% higher than Q1 2010.

"Quarterly price growth in London rebounded after a weak figure in Q4, with a seasonally adjusted price increase of 2.3%. Prices in the capital were up 2.1% compared with the same quarter one year ago.

"Scotland saw a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter rise, but the annual rate of change was unchanged, with prices down 2% year-on-year.

"Whilst Wales saw a 0.6% rise in the quarter, this was not sufficient to prevent a further decline in the annual rate of change to -2.6%. Wales was the second weakest region on an annual basis behind Northern Ireland."