UK property prices were flat in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the final quarter of last year, according to Halifax.

Its latest house price index, administered by IHS Markit, also recorded a slowdown in house price growth in its year-on-year comparison. It found a rise just of 3.6% between the first three months of 2016 and 2017.

On this annual basis, house prices in the West Midlands have increased at the fastest pace of all UK regions – 10.6%. Property prices in the East Midlands picked up by 8.0% year-on-year, which placed the region in second place for price growth.

Falling prices

For the first time in almost eight years, East Anglia came last in the UK regional table, with house prices falling by -1.8% since the first quarter of 2016.

London was the only other area to see a year-on-year fall in house prices, although the rate of decline was marginal (-0.2%). This ended a four-year period of sustained annual house price growth.

Property prices fell on the quarterly measure in four UK regions, led by the North of England (-4.1%) and the North West (-2.8%).

Tim Moore, senior economist at IHS Markit said: “The latest figures reveal a marked loss of momentum on a year-on-year basis. UK house prices were 3.6% higher than at the same time in 2016, which indicates the slowest annual increase for exactly four years.

“London was a clear underperformer in quarter one of 2017, with house prices falling slightly in comparison to the first three months of 2016. East Anglia was the only other part of the UK to record a decline in property prices on an annual basis.

“Of the 12 regions monitored in quarter one, the strongest upturn was a double-digit annual rise across the West Midlands, followed closely by an 8.0% year-on-year uptick in the East Midlands. As a result, the Midlands has emerged as an engine of house price growth in the UK, with property prices rising at the fastest annual pace since the summer of 2015.”