The value of the housing market in England and Wales plummeted more than £1.2 billion (US$1.59 billion) last year in its first fall since 2011, according to a report from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics.
The total housing market value in the two countries was £259 billion (US$344 billion) in 2017, the report, released last week, said.
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The number of residential property transactions in England and Wales fell too, down 3.8% to 884,329 in 2017 from 919,458 the year previously. This is the lowest number recorded since 2013, when 790,585 transactions were logged.
Flats and maisonettes were the property type to see their sales numbers fall furthest, dropping to 161,997 transactions in 2017 from 185,559 in 2016, a decline of more than 12%.
Terraced houses and detached houses also logged transaction declines, falling 5.16% and 1.25% respectively.
Semi-detached homes were the only property type to log transaction increases last year, the report said. Sales rose marginally, up 1.9% to 250,614 from the year prior.
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But while the overall value of the market and transaction levels fell, the postcode-level analysis found that the median price paid for residential properties increased in 67% of areas across England and Wales compared to the prior year. But 2016 saw prices perform slightly better, with 70% of areas logging median price paid increases that year.
The median price paid varied drastically across the postcodes analyzed in England and Wales, ranging from just £24,000 (US$31,876) up to £7.77 million (US$10.32 million).
All 41 of the postcodes where median prices were £2 million (US$2.65 million) or more last year were in London.