The average price of a house in Wales in September was £150,163, down by 0.4% or £647 from August, according to the latest house price index for Wales from LSL Property Services and Academetrics.

Prices have been going down for five months now, although this month’s fall is smaller than the 0.7% last month.

However, the overall trend of monthly decreases, as opposed to monthly increases, continues and has resulted in a fall of 1.3% over the past twelve months.

It is instructive to look back to earlier in the year, and to see how the reintroduction of the 1% stamp duty in March on properties between £125,000 and £250,000 affects the picture,” said Dr Peter Williams, chairman of Acadametrics.

“The trend is of a definite average price decline from £152,000 last year ending at £150,000 now.

“It was anticipated last month that the number of actual transactions would decline in September. This has indeed proved to be the case, with a decrease of nearly 18% being recorded when compared with August. The lingering effects of the Olympics are thus still being felt, with Wales mirroring the same effect as in England.

“If this copy-cat behaviour is repeated next month, then there should be a bounce in the number of sales over and above that normally seen in October. However, if this happens, it should be regarded as a catch-up rather than an indication of a revitalisation of the market generally.”