HOUSE prices in York fell last year, official Land Registry figures revealed today.

The average price of a property in the last three months of 2005 was only £177,308, compared to £185,191 in the final quarter of 2004.

But it was a different story in North and East Yorkshire, where prices rose over the year.

In North Yorkshire, excluding the City of York Council area, the average price of a property in the last quarter of 2005 was £198,994, compared to £191,442 in the last quarter of 2004.

In East Yorkshire, the average price rose from £151,855 to £161,704.

A leading estate agent claimed today that the York decrease was probably a temporary blip Edward Waterson, of Carter Jonas, who is the area's spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said he believed prices would resume a steady upward trend in the coming year after a very busy January in the housing market.

Mr Waterson said the market had been sluggish in the last quarter of 2005, with some vendors possibly cutting their prices to achieve a quick sale before Christmas - and this might partly account for the decline.

"I think people were holding back, worried that house prices might collapse, but they're now going back in the market," he said.

"We had the best month in January for nearly two years. There's plenty of money around, and interest rates are still low."

But Mr Waterson, pictured, stressed that he did not expect another property boom - increases in line with the inflation rate were more likely.

Nationally, the average price rose by 4.6 per cent, from £182,920 to £191,327, and in Yorkshire and Humberside as a whole, there was a 6.94 per cent increase from £133,224 to £142,472.

Details within the York figures show that different sectors of the market showed a varying performance last year.

The average price of a detached property fell from £275,512 in the last quarter of 2004 to £249,374 in late 2005, and average prices for terraced properties also fell, from £170,885 to £155,544.

But semi-detached homes rose from £167,090 to £174,195, and flats and maisonettes increased from £149,169 to £153,783.

The volume of property sales in York increased from 864 in the last three months of 2004 to 912 in the final quarter of last year.

The latest report by Yorkshire Bank says that although house prices are expected to remain virtually static in 2006, buyers may be prepared to pitch offers closer to asking prices as the market firms up.

Updated: 11:05 Saturday, February 11, 2006