Latest figures showed that house prices in England and Wales remained static during February.

The Land Registry, which releases figures one month in arrears, found annual house price growth fell to 5.5 per cent – down from 6.4 per cent in January.

Research from the government body's house price index also showed the average property price in England and Wales was now £185,616.

Flats and maisonettes led the annual increase, with six per cent. This was followed by terraced homes, with five per cent, while semi-detached and detached properties were up by five and 4.4 per cent respectively.

However, on a regional scale the picture proved to be more varied.

Prices in London continued to accelerate at 10.6 per cent annually, making it the fastest regional growth area of England and Wales.

However, it did see a 0.4 per cent drop during February, making it one of the most volatile regions, with an average property now costing £353,760.

The south-east and east continued to perform ahead of the national average, with annual growth of six per cent, 5.8 per cent respectively.

However, Wales saw prices slump 1.1 per cent during February, with annual growth down to just 2.7 per cent.

Only the north-east had a lower annual growth of 1.9 per cent, where the average property cost over £50,000 less than the national average of £130,545.

Worrying news for the property market came with the announcement that sales volumes continued to decline.

From September to December 2007, transaction volumes averaged 90,880 per month. This represented a sharp decrease on the same period last year, when sales volumes averaged 117,301 – a fall of 40 per cent.

Only properties valued over £2 million saw an increase over the period – with sales going up by just one per cent.