Islington sees first fall in house prices

Islington, the north London borough that acted as the bell-wether of the 1990s property boom, was the only part of the country to suffer an annual drop in house prices this autumn, government figures showed today.

Islington, the north London borough that acted as the bell-wether of the 1990s property boom, was the only part of the country to suffer an annual drop in house prices this autumn, government figures showed today.

The price of the average home slumped by 7.4 per cent - £27,871 to £319,680 - in the three months to September compared with the same period a year ago, the Land Registry said.

The drop was symptomatic of a new "reverse" North-South divide in which London experienced the lowest annual house price inflation, 9.7 per cent, compared with 28.3 per cent growth in Wales, the fastest-growing region.

The principality's rise put it at the top of the regional league table for the second successive quarter. It was followed by the North-west on 26 per cent, Yorkshire and Humberside on 25 per cent and the rest of the north of England on 24 per cent.

One other London borough, Islington's poorer neighbour Hackney, recorded the smallest increase in England and Wales of just £690 or 0.4 per cent over the year.

Windsor and Maidenhead, the Berkshire borough that includes both the royal castle and Eton College, recorded a rise of 4.5 per cent, the smallest in any non-metropolitan area.

The average house price in England and Wales for the quarter was £187,971, an annual increase of 16.27 per cent.