House prices have shown great volatility this year, with homes in some areas plummeting by as much as £21,000 in a month, while others have jumped by £20,000, data from Barrows and Forrester shows.  

The London borough of Camden recorded the largest average house price growth, rising by £19,867 between January and February, according to the estate agent’s survey.  

While Mole Valley, in the South East, saw average prices tumble by £21,276, or 3.6%, in the same period to £572,795.  

Across the country, the average UK house price has fallen by £3,006, or 1%, since the start of the year to £290,667 in February.  

Yesterday, Santander UK says that it expects house prices to fall 10% this year, sliding back to 2021 levels.  

The estate agent says at a regional level, the largest falls have been in London where prices have declined by £5,903 (although Camden bucks this trend), followed by Scotland, down by £4,782, the South East, posting a £4,664 fall, and the South West, down by £3,873.  

However, house price growth of more than £10,000 in the space of a month has been measured in South Oxfordshire, up by £17,628, the Three Rivers, rising by £15,562, the Forest of Dean, £11,117 higher, the City of Westminster, up by £11,046, Richmond, £10,927 higher, and the Western Isles, up by £10,463.  

Barrows and Forrester managing director James Forrester says: “Although the market may be cooling as we return to post-pandemic normality, this declining market performance is being driven to a far greater extent by some areas of the market, while others continue to benefit from healthy levels of house price appreciation.   

Forrester adds: “But the question everyone wants answering is, what is going to happen next? Well, the economic situation is far from ideal, but it is showing signs of stabilising.   

“This should help to reassure the nation’s homebuyers who have recently been deterred from the market by the increasing cost of borrowing.   

“We should see a far more steady market landscape return and this should help to stem the decline in property values seen across many areas of the market.   

“House prices rise and fall. That’s always been the case. But we have endured some truly remarkable years of late, from pandemic boom to historically delirious political ineptitude, and so the ups and downs we’ve seen are starker [rises and falls] than we’re used to.   

“Still, calamity has been avoided – property is an incredibly resilient commodity – and from here, things are going to start looking much healthier.”