Monthly house prices in England and Wales fell by 0.8% in January, according to the latest figures from Land Registry.

The average house price is now £156,753, down almost £28,000 on January 2008.

In London the average price fell 14.1% annually to £306,183. It is the seventeenth month in a row where the annual rate of change has fallen, in contrast to 21 months of uninterrupted increases in the average annual rate of change between December 2005 and August 2007.

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Wales was the region to experience the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 8.8%. However, this figure was due to the exceptionally small volume of sales so far recorded for the region in January. Rolling average figures for Wales indicate a monthly 1% fall, which in this instance is a more reliable indicator of the underlying trend.

The most up-to-date figures available show that during November 2008 the number of completed house sales fell by 67% to 33,404 from 100,730 in November 2007. In London only 3,504 house sales were completed in November 2008 compared with 12,719 in November 2007.

(CD/JM)