The average house price rose 17% to �175,401 in the April to June period, compared with a year earlier.

The biggest price increases were seen in the north of England and Wales, where values jumped by more than 25%.

However, experts noted the Registry's figures tend to reflect property deals agreed several months ago.

Separate figures released by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) for June paint a slightly more subdued picture of the housing market.

The average house price stood at �173,756 in June, the ODPM said, up from �170,719 in May, while the annual growth rate was 13.9% in June, up from 12.2% in May.

The ODPM said the annual rate of house price growth for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales had fallen in June compared with the previous month, although the rate of increase was still higher than in April.

Southern slowdown

Annual inflation in Northern Ireland fell from 13.8% in May to 6.4% in June.

But inflation in Wales and Scotland still remains high, with prices rising by 26.1% in Wales and 23.8% in Scotland on an annual basis.

I think that the market is quite clearly cooling down now Ray Boulger, Charcol House price surveys explained

England was the only country where the annual rate of growth was higher in June than in May.

There, the pace of house price growth stood at 13.1% in June, up from 11% in May.

Prices in the south of England, meanwhile, showed signs the market was cooling down.

In London, annual price growth fell from 12.2% in May to 11.8% in June, while prices in the South East and East had the lowest rates of inflation in June, at 6.7%.

Rate rise

"The figures from the Land Registry are the most accurate but they're also the most historic," Ray Boulger of Charcol, a mortgage broker, told BBC Radio Five Live.

"These figures are based on completions in the three months to June which mean they will reflect transactions which were broadly agreed in the period December last year up to March this year."

"So the base rate increases we had in May and June... won't be reflected in any way in these figures."

Recent surveys from the Nationwide and Halifax have shown annual house price inflation running at about 20%.

However, both have said that they believe that the rate of price increase will slow during the second half of the year, while other surveys have hinted that the market is slowing already.

Mr Boulger said the recent interest rate rises are having an effect on the market.

The latest rise came last Thursday, when the Bank of England's raised rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75%.

"The most up to date statistics... are showing a marked slowdown," Mr Boulger said.

"We've also noticed a fall off in the number of calls from people looking to buy property, so I think that the market is quite clearly cooling down now."

Sales up

In general, the Land Registry survey found that the regions with the cheapest properties saw the fastest rise in prices.

House prices in Wales, as well as the north west and north of England, rose by more than 25% year on year.

The annual increase recorded by the Land Registry between April and June was higher than for the first three months of 2004, when house price inflation was a shade over 14%.

The number of properties sold in the second quarter of 2004 was up 22.1% on a year ago.

In total, nearly 300,000 properties were sold between April and June.

Of these, 997 fetched a price in excess of one million pounds.

House price increases by region
Region	Avg Apr-June 2003	Avg Apr-June 2004	% increase
Wales	�98,196	�125,328	27.6%
North West	�96,253	�122,260	27%
North	�91,179	�114,695	25.8%
Yorks & Humber	�99,740	�125,285	25.6%
West Midlands	�125,817	�147,541	17.3%
East Midlands	�120,759	�141,561	17.2%
South West	�164,036	�187,495	14.3%
Greater London	�246,710	�280,431	13.7%
East Anglia	�144,427	�162,718	12.7%
South East	�194,924	�213,828	9.7%
England & Wales	�149,935	�175,401	17%
Source: Land Registry (Apr-June)