AVERAGE house prices in North Wales have plummeted £10,000 in 12 months with the latest figures revealing a fall of 2.5% in September alone.

Land Registry figures showed Conwy has been the worst hit county with a drop of nearly £17,000 on the average price this September compared with the same month in 2007 – a fall of 10.6%.

The average house price in Conwy is now £143,600.

Denbighshire was the next worst hit county as prices fell from £141,472 to £130,668, a drop of 7.6%.

Across North Wales the average price fell £151,837 to £141,947 in the past year – a 6.5% drop.

This compares with a UK-wide drop of 8% and an average fall across Wales of 10.7%.

Estate agent Richard Thomas, of Thomas Estates, Denbighshire, predicted further falls this winter before prices stabilise in 2009.

He said: “I think prices in the areas of Denbighshire, Conwy and Flintshire we cover have fallen 15% since the start of the year and will keep falling this winter.

“I would say they have maybe another 5% or 10% to fall before we then start to see prices stabilise.

“There will be a point then when prices will stay as they are and then it really depends on the economic situation as to how quickly the market recovers to the 2007 prices.

“I think vendors are being forced to sell for less than they were hoping for because they are realising they will not get the higher price they wanted.

“We are still selling homes but not as many as we were.”

The Land Registry figures showed Anglesey saw the largest month-on-month fall with prices in September down 3.6% on August.

Gwynedd was close behind with falls of 3.5%, and Conwy was down 3.2%.

The average North Wales price fell 2.5% over the last month.

September was the 13th month in a row that the annual rate of house price growth declined, as the credit crunch continued to squeeze the property market.

All regions of England and Wales recorded price falls on both a monthly and an annual basis.

Wales saw the biggest slide, with prices diving by 5.5% during the month, making it the only region to have seen double digit annual falls of 10.7%.

Seema Shah, property economist at Capital Economics, said: “With unemployment now rising sharply, economic activity contracting and mortgage lending criteria still tightening, the pace of house price falls is set to intensify. We expect house prices to drop 20% next year. In time, the Government’s recapitalisation plan may help to ease the mortgage credit squeeze.”

Average house prices from September 2007 to September 2008 showed Anglesey properties had fallen from £152,021 to £148,211 – a 2.5% drop.

In Conwy they fell from £160,561 to £143,600 – a 10.6% decline. In Denbighshire average prices were down 7.6% from £141,472 to £130,668, while Flintshire saw a 6.8% fall from £150,935 to £140,630. Gwynedd and Wrexham experienced the smallest falls of 6.3% and 5.2% with values dropping from £159,089 to £149,201, and £146,949 to £139,374 respectively.