House prices across Wales are slowing down and even falling as the recent rises in interest rates begin to take their toll on the market, local experts have reported.

According to the latest figures from the Land Registry, prices fell by 0.4 per cent last month to an average of £138,738, the first time since April 2000 that the market has seen a second successive monthly reverse.

Annual house price growth across the country now stands at 5.8 per cent in comparison to the rate of 27 per cent witnessed in the summer of 2004.

However, while the Cardiff market is growing by just 0.5 per cent on a monthly basis and prices in the Vale of Glamorgan fell by 0.2 per cent last month, some areas are experiencing continued growth, the figures show, with Powys seeing a three per cent rise in prices and the average cost of a home in Denbingshire up by 2.3 per cent.

Commenting on the statistics, Tony Filice, a partner at Kelvin Francis estate agents in Cardiff claimed that the market has been affected by the introduction of Home Information Packs.

"I think we will see a further month where there are lower figures, and this is directly caused by Hips," he told the Western Mail.

He added, however: "The market generally is quite stable, there are people relocating from the south of England where there is stronger growth, and that is helping with momentum here."