The latest official Land Registry figures show that the UK housing market is fragile but buy-to-let landlords are seeing healthy returns.

According to the figures, prices across England and Wales moved sideways in June, reaching an average of £161,479 compared with £161,823 in May, taking the annual fall in prices to -2.5%.

London was the only region in England and Wales to experience an increase in prices over the last year (up 0.8%), but annual growth in the capital has now slowed to its narrowest since October 2009.

Wales experienced the largest monthly growth, with average prices there rising by 2.8%, followed by south-east England (1.3%) and the West Midlands (1.1%). North-east England experienced the greatest annual (-7.1%) and monthly (-2.1%) price falls.

From January to April 2011, the number of housing transactions averaged 42,733 per month, down from the same period last year, when sales averaged 45,509. Sales volumes have been relatively consistent over the past six months.

Some industry insiders are claiming the Land Registry figures are further evidence of a boom in buy-to-let, bolstered by statistics from Moneyfacts showing the number of buy-to-let mortgages available has hit 505 – the highest level since September 2008.