House prices barely move, but market is buoyant

HOUSE prices have levelled out after rising dramatically in the first quarter of 2010.

The latest figures show the average value of a local market home was £346,750 in the second quarter of this year. That represents an annual increase of 0.1% and a quarterly fall of 4.8%.

Between January and March, quarterly prices rose by 10.2% and annual figures by 25.9% compared to the same period in 2009.

At the time, however, the Policy Council said the figures were skewed because there were far fewer sales than in 2009.

There were 248 local market transactions between April and July and just over one-fifth of those were flats.

The property prices bulletin also showed the average cost of an open market property during the last quarter was £798,000 and 17 homes were sold.

Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors show UK house prices fell for the first time in a year last month.