THE evidence is there that house prices in Swindon are falling after last year's huge rises.

Matthew James, senior partner at Taylor James Estate Agents in Rodbourne Cheney, gave the Evening Advertiser examples of homes he had sold in Abbey Meads in the last 16 months.

He says two types of homes, a four-bedroom two-garage detached house and a two-bedroom terraced house, of which there are many in north Swindon, have recently gone down in price.

At the peak of the market in October last year, he sold a four-bedroom house for £239,000.

In January of the same year, a similar home went for £198,000, and for £199,000 in April.

That same house would sell for £224,000 if it went on the market today, showing a reduction in just the last few months.

At the opposite end of the market, in January a two-bedroom terrace house was sold for £88,500. The same house came back on the market in April, when it was sold for £102,500, a rise of £14,000 in just four months.

In September, a similar house in the same street was sold for £110,000. Today it would cost £108,000, again demonstrating a reduction.