London experienced the highest yearly increase in its average property value with a movement of 0.7% while the North East experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 5.6%.
Wales experienced the greatest annual price fall with a decrease of 5.5% and the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 4.1%.
The most up-to-date figures available showed that during January 2012 the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 13% to 42,511 compared to 37,584 in January 2011.
The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1m in January 2012 decreased by 6% to 467 from 497 in January 2011.
Nicholas Leeming, business development director at Zoopla, said: “A number of London’s sellers decided to drop prices in February and March in order to keep buyers interested as the prospect grew of either a mansion tax or a new stamp duty threshold being announced in the Budget.
“As a result the month-on-month fall in average prices in London is likely to be a temporary blip however the fall will put pressure on annual price growth in London over the coming months.
“The overall trend of average price falls demonstrates there is still some nervousness among buyers and this is putting downward pressure on prices.”
Mark Blackwell, managing director of xit2, added: “The fillip we saw over the winter has turned out to be something of a false dawn.
“Lending to new buyers will drop sharply this quarter as mortgage lenders struggle to cope with their increased funding costs.
“The banks have absorbed increasing costs rather than passing them onto the consumer. That policy has veiled serious underlying weaknesses in the mortgage market and the way it’s funded.”
“Now lenders’ balance sheets are stretched to breaking point, those weaknesses are coming to bear. This will put the brakes on first-time buyer activity and reverberate through the rest of the market.”
Over 55,000 residential property sales in England and Wales lodged for registration in March.
