The London housing market seems to be slowing down

According to Halifax bank, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, Londoners saw the price of their properties increase to �220,525 in the first three months of this year.

The average house price in south-east England rose to �195,700.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, said: "The first quarter figures point to what we have been expecting - that the market is slowing down in southern England but does remain buoyant in other parts of the country, particularly in northern England.

UK house price growth in the first quarter: Northern England: 8.1% East Anglia: 7.4% Wales: 6.2% Yorkshire and Humber: 4.7% South East: 3.3% London: 2.7% Scotland and the South West: 0.9% West Midlands: 1.2% East Midlands: 1.6% North West: 1.4% Northern Ireland: -5.4%

'Year of the North'

According to the Halifax survey, house prices in northern England averaged �83,833 in the first quarter, with houses in Northern Ireland falling to �77,250.

Mr Ellis said he expected the trend of a slowdown in house prices in southern England, combined with buoyant growth in the rest of the UK, to continue for the rest of the year.

He said 2003 would be "the year of the North".

Mixed signals

With interest rates at historical lows, the UK has enjoyed a strong boom in house prices in recent years.

The number of housing market doomsayers has been growing of late Your questions on house prices answered

Earlier in the week, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at 3.75%, the lowest level since 1955.

But there are signs that the boom is ending.

And the International Monetary Fund has warned the UK could be in the grip of an economically damaging house price bubble.