UK houses slip from record highs, adding to signs of a cooling market UK house prices slipped back from their record highs in September, according to official figures that add to evidence the property market is coming off the boil. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the annual rise in prices in September was the fastest for more than seven years, with London again leading the way. But looking at the average price of a house rather than year-on-year rises, the market appeared to cool. The ONS said the average UK house price in September was £273,000, down from a record £274,000 in August. This month has seen house prices in a number of regions fall back from the record levels witnessed in August 2014. Only house prices in the East of England remain at record levels," the ONS said in its latest house price report. Compared with a year earlier, prices in September were up 12.1%, the highest house price inflation since before the financial crisis in July 2007. The ONS said the fastest growth was again in London where prices rose 18.8%, down from 19.6% in August. "While this is still a very strong year-on-year increase, there is now compelling evidence that the capital's housing market is cooling," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight. Commenting on the UK-wide outlook, he added: "With housing market activity clearly off its early-2014 highs, we suspect house prices will generally rise at a more sedate rate over the coming months. Specifically, we expect house prices to rise by around 5% in 2015 after a likely modest overall increase in the fourth quarter of 2014. The latest house price figures from Britain's biggest building society, Nationwide, added to evidence of a slowdown with the annual rate of house price growth down to 9% in October from 9.4% in September. The number of mortgages approved for people to buy homes, seen as an indicator of demand and where prices are headed, has also been falling and hit a 14-month low in September, according to Bank of England figures.