York is missing out on the national housing boom, with average prices DOWN on the same time last year, according to figures out today.

But North and East Yorkshire shared in the national trend reported in the latest residential property price report from the Land Registry.

The Government report shows an average rise across England and Wales of more than eight per cent in the period April to June, compared with the same time last year.

The Land Registry found property prices in North Yorkshire, excluding York, rose from an average of £75,020 for all property types last year to £75,228. In the East Riding of Yorkshire the rise was more marked, from £61,927 to £63,848.

But the area covered by City of York Council shows a FALL from £68,980 last year to £67,920 in April-June 1999.

A more detailed breakdown shows there are winners and losers within York itself.

The winners are sellers of semi-detached houses, which rose in price from £60,901 to £62,997, and terraced homes, which went up from £57,298 to £59,508.

The price falls came in two contrasting sectors. Detached houses dropped from £105,348 to £102,502, while flats and maisonettes fell from an average £53,060 in 1998 to £51,355 this year.

Local estate agent Claude Elmer, of Elmer Turpin, said he could not agree with the figures for detached houses, saying he knew of only one that had failed to make its asking price recently.

Malcolm Hill, construction director of Hearthstead Homes, who are currently building a new development of detached homes worth £100,000 to £180,000 in Wigginton, said they had been selling extremely quickly.

David Smith, sales director for Persimmon Homes Yorkshire Ltd, said: "Our experience vastly differs from the overall trend reported by HM Land Registry. Over the last three months we have experienced a significant improvement in demand for properties."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.