House prices in the UK fall for 20th consecutive month

The latest house price index from the British land registry shows a fall of 0.3% in April, bringing the average house price in England and Wales down to £152,898. The Land registry index is the only accurate figures available - although they lag behind the Building Society figures by a month or so, they reflect a more accurate picture because they are based on actual sales values rather than a building society's mortgage value of an over-optimistic estate agent's off-the-top-of-his-head valuation.

One thing to take into consideration when considering buying property as an investment in the UK, is the massive drop in sales volumes. The number of recorded property  transactions in England and Wales has decreased quite drastically over the last year, with the number of  sales averaging 31,315 per month in the months November 2008 to February 2009. In the same period the year before, the average was 75,374. This is a drop of almost 60%.