House price mini-boom slows as Christmas looms

The unexpected ‘mini-boom’ in house prices continued in September, according to the latest official figures, but analysts say that a slowdown in the pace of the recent rebound has begun.

Figures from the Land Registry showed a rise of 0.9 per cent in prices last month, taking the price of the average house in England and Wales to £158,377 and bringing the annual decline to 5.6 per cent.

However, estate agents have said that transaction levels remain low and have sunk further in the first few weeks of October as homebuyers and sellers begin to hunker down in the run-up to Christmas.

Rightmove reported that the number of new listings had fallen to 94,629 in October from 105,924 in September, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported slight softening in demand last month.