Sales volumes slipped markedly in the first four months of this year.

They averaged 57,918 a month, down from the same period in 2014 when sales volumes averaged 66,949 per month.

In April itself, sales were down across England and Wales by 19% – standing at 57,180 compared with 70,244 a year earlier.

Sales in London were hit even harder, down 26% – 7,001 transactions in April compared with 9,491 a year earlier.

Average house prices across England and Wales stood at £181,619 in June, the Land Registry has also reported.

The price is 1.1% higher than in May and 5.4% up on June last year.

In London, house prices were up 1.8% on a monthly basis and 9.2% annually, with the average price in the capital £481,820.

The latest Land Registry data shows that on an annual basis, every region showed house prices rising annually, but on a monthly basis there were slips of between 0.2% and 0.9% in the west midlands, the east of England and Yorkshire & the Humber.