The flagship index recorded a fall of 0.4% last month compared with February, putting the average house price in England and Wales at £169,124 but this is still considerably less than the peak of £181,618 in November 2007.
The region in England and Wales which experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months was London with a rise of 12.4%. However, the city saw prices rise just 0.6% on a monthly basis, taking the average price to £414,490.
The data also shows that both the East and North East regions experienced the greatest monthly rise with an increase of 1.1%. In the East prices have increased 7.1% since a year ago taking the average price to £184,980 and in the North East the annual increase is 3.3% with the average home costing £99,313.
Wales experienced the only annual price fall of 1.6%. Wales also saw the most significant monthly price fall with prices down 4.2%, taking the average house price to £113.275.
Elsewhere the South West saw prices rise 0.7% on a monthly basis and 4.7% on an annual basis to an average of £179,066 while in the West Midlands there was a monthly rise of 0.6% and an annual rise of 3.7%, taking the average price to £133,532.
The South East, which has seen prices rise 6.1% on an annual basis, saw a 0.7% fall in March, taking the average price to £221,189 while in the East Midlands the monthly fall was 1% and the annual rise 4.6% with an average price of £127,384.
Both Yorkshire and Humber and the North West have seen more muted annual price rises at 1.8% and 2.3% respectively. On a monthly basis prices have fallen 0.9% in Yorkshire and Humber taking the average price to £116,993 and in the North West prices fell by 1.8% to an average of £109,042.
The most up to date figures available show that during January 2014 the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 46% to 63,123 compared with 43,373 in January 2013.
The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in January 2014 increased by 61% to 1,011 from 628 in January 2013.
There were 979 repossessions in England and Wales during January 2014 and the region with the greatest fall in repossession sales in January 2014 was the North East.
Peter Rollings, chief executive officer at Marsh & Parsons, said that the dip was largely due to the chequered regional picture, with areas such as Wales seeing prices fall on both a monthly and annual basis.
'But London home owners are still holding the winning hand. In the prime London market price increases have been even higher, with three bedroom properties rising by £729 a day over the past 12 months. Prime London is still a strong sellers’ market and with returns like these, it’s easy to see why both UK and overseas buyers are queuing up to buy property in the capital,' he pointed out.
'However after a record start to the year, conditions in the capital are beginning to stabilise. More sellers are marketing their properties for sale in the busier spring season, which is helping to ease the supply shortage. In Prime London as a whole, the number of registered buyers per property has decreased from 24 in January, to 23 in February, to 20 in March, to 18 in April. This is giving buyers a bit more breathing space and will help to stabilise prices,' he added.
