The average UK house price in March 2012 was £225,283 down 0.4% from a year earlier while seasonally adjusted UK house prices decreased by 0.6% over the month.
In the 12 months to March 2012 average house prices decreased by 0.3% in both England and Scotland and 10.7% in Northern Ireland. These decreases were offset by an increase of 0.4% in Wales.
The annual decrease in England was driven by decreases in London which fell by 0.2%, the South East which fell by 1.4% and the North East which fell by 0.9%.
This was the first year on year decrease In London since October 2009. The largest annual increase in regional average house prices was 2.2% In the South West of England.
In March 2012, prices paid by first-time buyers were 2.8% higher on average than in March 2011. For owner-occupiers the prices decreased by 1.6% in the same period.
Ashley Alexander, director of estate agent review website MeetMyAgent, said: “Prices are heading south and with a very ugly storm brewing in Europe, the UK housing market could feel the full force of a eurozone meltdown. The worry is that no-one really knows how bad it could get if the eurozone implodes and that is not great for a housing market that is already short on confidence.
“The traditional spring bounce in housing market activity hasn't been evident this year and estate agents are already bracing themselves for a tough year ahead, with the problems in Europe likely to sit heavily on the shoulders of buyer confidence.
“Although agents have been booking more viewings in recent months, this hasn't been translating into sales, and the crumbling eurozone is unlikely to provide buyers with any level of optimism that this is a good time to be making a significant purchase.”
