Key points from the data:
- South East tops the table of regional applications with 233,684 in September
- Over 60,400 residential properties in England and Wales lodged for registration in September ranging from £10,000 to £25 million
- The region in England and Wales which experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months is London with a movement of 5.5 per cent.
- Wales experienced the greatest monthly rise with an increase of 0.5 per cent.
- The North East experienced the greatest annual price fall with a decrease of 3.2 per cent.
- Yorkshire & The Humber saw the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 2.2 per cent.
- The most up-to-date figures available show that during July 2012, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales decreased by 9 per cent to 56,509 compared with 62,303 in July 2011.
- The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in July 2012 increased by 13 per cent to 817 from 725 in July 2011.
Donna Houguez, market analyst at the property buyer Quickmovenow.com commented:
"There's no doubt that within the property market, the pressure remains to the downside. With confidence levels low and mortgages still hard to secure, transaction levels have stayed woefully flat. They remain at around half their pre-crash peak, and are unlikely to tick back up until the New Year. Prices in London, despite a slight dip in September, remain head and shoulders above the rest.
"A major factor in all this is that the deposits demanded by lenders are simply too big a hurdle for many would-be buyers. Economic logic suggests that in the face of such puny demand, sellers should start cutting prices. But that simply isn't happening. Many vendors are still being totally unrealistic with their asking prices, while others who bought with a high LTV mortgage simply don't own enough equity to be able to drop their prices.
"We're in a difficult position where sellers can't afford to lower their asking prices and prospective buyers can't afford to offer more. The result is the chronic stagnation we're seeing."
