Transactions on residential property outside London have started the year at increased levels.

That’s according to new figures from the LSL/Acadata house price index, which showed that transactions in the fourth quarter of 2017 were up 4% on the same period a year ago.

Transactions on flats fell 1%, reflecting a significant decline in buy-to-let activity, LSL said.

Nonetheless, transactions on semi-detached properties in the 108 unitary authorities outside London rose 5% in Q4 2017.

Transactions on detached and terrace houses were up 4%.

Overall transactions including London stood at 901,583 for the 12 months from February 2017 to January 2018.

As things stand, that is down 2% on the same period a year before when there were 920,499 transactions, although LSL/Acadata cautioned that the picture for January 2018 is still emerging.

Meanwhile, figures showed that the average house price now stands at £301,477, which LSL/Acadata said was an annual fall of 0.4%.

On a month-on-month basis, the average price rose 0.2% (£455) in January – the first such increase in several months.

Excluding London and the south-east, house prices rose 2.3% in January 2018 as compared to the same month a year before.

Oliver Blake, managing director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, said: “The slowdown in London can now also be seen in the south-east and north-east.

“Time will tell if the rest of England and Wales remains resilient, but the increase in January will be seen by many as positive news and an indication of continued demand.”

* The market in prime central London (PCL) property may have stabilised, new figures from Knight Frank suggest.

The agent’s January PCL Sales Index found average prices in declined 0.7% in the year to January, slower than the 6.7% drop recorded in January 2016.

Meanwhile, the ratio of prospective buyers to properties increased in 2017 after a drop the year before, suggesting declines in the PCL market may have bottomed out.

Tom Bill, head of residential research for Knight Frank, said: “Overall, transaction levels are showing signs of stabilisation. The number of transactions rose 5% in prime central London in the last six months of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, according to LonRes.”

There was similar optimism in lettings, with average rental values in PCL falling 2.1% in the year to January – the lowest rate of decline since April 2016.

The agent predicted rents could be set to rise for PCL landlords due to a lack of supply, forecasting a 0.5% rise.

It said new lettings properties listed in the final quarter of 2017 fell by 19% year-on-year, the largest such fall in seven years. This was also reflected in Rightmove data, Knight Frank added, while LonRes has listings down by 13%.

However, Knight Frank says it agreed 12% more tenancies last year compared with 2016 and said tenant registrations were up 16%.