House price growth in England and Wales dipped in April from the previous month, bolstering impressions that the market could be approaching a tipping point as rate-rises finally bite.

The seasonally adjusted figures from the Land Registry, which lag other house-prices measures, showed that house prices posted a monthly increase of 0.6 per cent in April, down from 1 per cent in March. The increase pushed the average cost of a home to £179,935, the government agency said.

The slowdown came despite a red-hot market in London, where prices were up 2.3 per cent in the month to give a 15.6 per cent annual pace.

For the whole country, the annual pace of growth hit 9.1 per cent, up from 8.3 per cent a month earlier, due to weakness in the market a year ago.

BACKGROUND

• Will further interest rate cuts boost the housing market next year?

• A guide to the housing market forecasts

• The property market: a bleak future?

BACKGROUND

• All set for slowdown

• Homes in N Ireland rise 54% to London levels

• House prices: top hotspots ... and the coolest

• What do Chelsea and Belfast have in common?

The London property market

BACKGROUND

• Is the property boom finally over?

First-time buyers priced out

Houses will become completely unaffordable for first-time buyers unless many more are built, a national advisory unit says

• Reform of planning rules ‘vital’ to meet growth in demand

• How the mortgage market has changed

• The future of house prices: 10 times pay

BACKGROUND

• Property prices grow at slowest rate in five months

• Buying a house 'will cost 10 times your income'

• How the mortgage market has changed

• First proof of decline in housing market

• Buy-to-let brigade could be the joker in pack

No one is suffering as much as first-time buyers

Lenders are getting more picky, yet property prices are refusing to fall far enough, fast enough

BACKGROUND

• First proof of decline in housing market

• Fresh signs of cooling housing market

• House prices slow despite London surge

BACKGROUND

• Mortgage slowdown triggers house price fears

• Buy-to-let tax shock

• Fall in mortgages raises fears of slowdown

• Signs emerge that UK housing is off the boil

• Interest rates put brake on house prices

End of house price boom is in sight

Societies saw an 8% drop in mortgage approvals last month compared with a year ago, the first such fall since 2005

BACKGROUND

• Nationwide says slowdown may limit price rise

• House prices keep on rising

• Your guide to surviving the rate hike

• The return of negative equity?

Housing costs taking their toll

The question that always accompanies fresh data showing a fast-growing housing market is: are we headed for a crash?

Related Links

• Seasonal mortgage fall may mask rates effect

• Mortgage slowdown triggers house price fears

Other recent surveys of the housing market have indicated that it could be set to slow sharply.

Figures released yeterday by the British Bankers’ Association showed that the number of mortgages approved fell, from 75,100 in March to 64,800 last month. The value of approvals (excluding remortgaging) also fell, by 10 per cent, to £9.9 billion.

Earlier this week, Hometrack, the property website, found that the number of sales of houses rose by just 4.3 per cent this month, down from a 9.6 per cent increase in April, while the number of new buyers registering with agents failed to rise at all.

The weakness of demand fed into a slight slowdown in house-price inflation.

Prices rose by 0.6 per cent over the month, the report said, taking the annual pace of inflation among properties surveyed by Hometrack to 6.7 per cent, from 6.8 per cent the previous month.

A housing slowdown had been widely forecast after the Bank of England voted to raise rates four times since last August. A fifth rate rise is expected soon and some analysts are forecasting that base rates could climb as high as 6 per cent this year.

The Hometrack report confirmed that house-price growth is being led by London, the South East and East Anglia, with other regions experiencing only subdued house-price rises.

Explore Economics

• Pre-Budget Report 2008

• Budget 2009

• World Economic Forum

• The Times MPC

Times Recommends

• C&G axed - 1,660 jobs to be lost
• UK house prices rise 1.1% as buyers return
• Mixed reaction to US banks repaying bailouts