House prices down almost 11% in the North

The price of houses in the North continues to see the biggest annual fall in the UK, with homes losing 10.8% of their value during the past year.

Figures released by Britain's Department for Communities and Local Government also revealed that the average cost of a home in the UK rose by 0.3% during February to stand at £204,164 (€229,674).

Property values were also 0.7% higher than they had been in the same month of 2010, although the annual rate of change has been on a broadly downward trend since May last year.

But the increase seen during February may simply reflect a slight correction following the steep 1.4% drop in house prices recorded in January.

House prices are now lower than they were 12 months ago in seven regions of the UK, with a North/South divide emerging.

In London, annual house price inflation is running at 5.5%, while in the East prices are 1.4% higher than a year ago, with annual gains also recorded in the South East and West Midlands.