London house-price increases slow, but elsewhere in the UK the market is still booming

New figures from the Land Registry show a sharp slowing in the increase in house prices in London in the third quarter of 2004. The average property in the capital is now worth 拢287,470, 3.4% more than in the second quarter. There was an increase of 6.7% between the first and second quarters of this year.

But away from the South east there is little evidence for a slowdown yet. The average British house price rose 6.7% to 拢187,971; faster than the 5.7% increase seen between the first and second quarters.

In the Land Registry鈥檚 list of towns still seeing price increases, Wales took seven of the top ten spots, with Anglesey at the top of the pile. In the year to September, the average price of a house on the island rocketed from just under 拢90,000 to 拢130,000, an increase of almost 50%.

Based on actual transactions, rather than agreed sales, the Land Registry鈥檚 figures are slightly retrospective, but are regarded as the most reliable in the industry.