By Julian Whittle

Published at 11:25, Monday, 31 December 2012

ESTATE agents have questioned the accuracy of a survey, which claims that Carlisle house prices have slumped by almost 10 per cent in a year.

The Halifax Town House Price Survey ranks towns with the highest increases and steepest falls in prices in the year to November.

Carlisle saw the fourth biggest drop, 9.3 per cent, as the average price of homes sold fell from £135,790 to £123,100.

The figures are based on a limited sample of sales where buyers took out a Halifax mortgage.

Adrian Tod, a partner in Carlisle estate agent Hayward Tod Associates, is sceptical.

He said: “We haven’t seen a fall by as much as that.

“I’m surprised at the Halifax figures.

“There has been a fall of two or three per cent this year, which is frustrating because the market has recovered slightly in terms of the number of transactions taking place.”

Almost all the towns recording big increases were in London and the south east.

Southend in Essex saw the biggest rise, 14.8 per cent.

Durham was the only northern representative in the top 10, posting a 12.6 per cent increase.

Most of the towns where prices fell were in the north of England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Craigavon in Northern Ireland saw the biggest fall, 18.4 per cent, followed by Wishaw in central Scotland, Chorley in Lancashire, and Carlisle.

Nationally, prices rose by one per cent in 2011-12 and Halifax predicts more of the same in 2013.

Martin Ellis, a housing economist with the bank, said: “We expect continuing broad stability in house prices.

“The generalised north/south divide in house-price performance seen during 2012 is likely to continue.

“House prices are expected to be strongest in London and the South East as this part of the country performs best in economic terms.”

The Land Registry provides the most reliable indicator of house prices because it logs every sale.

It says the Cumbria average for October was £123,090, down 1.7 per cent on October 2011.

Cumbria’s housing market peaked in late 2007 and early 2008.

The typical home then sold for just under £144,000 – £20,000 more than today.

Updated figures from the Land Registry are due out on Wednesday.

JWhittle@cngroup.co.uk

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk