A round-up of the latest property market news, collating survey data, statistics, trends and information about the property market. (All figures below are the most recently available data.)
UK House Price Index
Data source: Land Registry
UK average house price = £225,047, down -0.1% in the month, up 4.4% in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 118.0
New buyer enquiries declined for the eleventh consecutive month.
There were 3,200 fewer mortgage approvals in February than in January, and the total of 63,910 approvals was lower than the six month average of 65,162 approvals.
Average estate agent stocks of homes for sale were at a record low.
London had the lowest annual growth of all regions, with prices decreasing by 1% over the year. This was the lowest annual growth in London since September 2009 when it was -3.2%.
Halifax
UK average house price = £227,871, up 1.5% in the month, down -0.1% in the quarter, up 2.7% in the year.
The average house price is the highest ever recorded. Mortgages are at the most affordable level since the 2008 recession, although the number of approvals were lower than a year ago. Average mortgage payments were 29% of household disposable income in Q4 of 2017, compared with 48% in Q3 of 2007.
The number of people in employment was 402,000 more than a year ago, and the UK jobs market was strong, in contrast with movement in the housing market.
Rightmove
England and Wales average house asking price = £305,732 up 0.4% in the month and up 1.6% in the year.
Average house prices reached a new record. There was strong interest in properties on Rightmove, although buyers appeared sensitive to prices. Sellers were receiving an average 96.7% of asking price.
Nationwide
UK average house price = £211,625 down -0.2% in the month, up 2.1% in the year.
Consumer confidence still subdued due to household finance pressures and wages growing slower than the cost of living.
House prices are supported by a lack of available properties, low unemployment and low mortgage rates.
LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £301,490, 0.0% change in the month, up 0.7% in the year.
House price growth slowed for the tenth successive month in March, at 0.7% compared to 5.1% last year and 9.0% in February 2016.
Prices falling in London and the South East are in stark contrast to other areas, where six out of ten regions set new average peak prices.
Seven high value property sales accounted for the massive 30.7% annual increase recorded in Kensington & Chelsea, each transaction over £10 million.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (>£40k) for March 2018 was 92,270, representing a decrease of -7.2% between Feb-Mar 2018, and the seasonally adjusted figure is 11.8% lower than March 2017. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 13.3% higher than February 2018, and -10.9% lower than March 2017.
The number of non-residential property transactions decreased by -7.9% between Feb-Mar 2018. This is -12.1% lower than March 2017.
Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency group in the UK, has published its Monthly Lettings Index for March 2018.
The number of landlords re-mortgaging buy to let property in order to make home improvements has tripled in a year (9,523 landlords over the last twelve months, compared to 2,967 in 2016). The biggest increase was in London and the South.
Home improvements accounted for one in ten of landlord re-mortgages.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Of the 85,249 residential sales received for registration in February, the most expensive residential property sale was a terraced property in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which sold for £10,750,000. There were 378 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 216 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a terraced property in Chester le Street, County Durham which sold for £19,000.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| February 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £242,176 | 0.2% | 4.1% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2017) | £130,482 | 1.0% | 4.3% |
| Scotland | £144,377 | -2.7% | 6.2% |
| Wales | £152,891 | -0.4% | 4.8% |
| East Midlands | £186,071 | 0.5% | 6.3% |
| East of England | £288,468 | -0.4% | 4.0% |
| London | £471,986 | -2.1% | -1.0% |
| North East | £128,218 | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| North West | £158,152 | 1.6% | 4.8% |
| South East | £322,489 | -0.1% | 4.0% |
| South West | £250,816 | -1.1% | 4.9% |
| West Midlands Region | £192,648 | 2.2% | 7.3% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £155,385 | -0.1% | 3.1% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | Februry 2018 GBP | February 2017 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached |  £342,954 | £324,883 | 5.6% |
| Semi-detached | £211,079 | £200,801 | 5.1% |
| Terraced | £181,833 | £173,585 | 4.8% |
| Flat or maisonette | £201,657 | £198,120 | 1.8% |
| All | £225,047 | £215,539 | 4.4% |
Rightmove regional figures
| March 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | Â 628,039 | -0.6 | -1.6 |
| South East | 408,544 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| South West | 303,834 | 0.6 | 2.6 |
| East of England | 353,594 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| West Midlands | 219,744 | -0.1 | 3.5 |
| East Midlands | 221,297 | 1.5 | 4.2 |
| North West | 193,787 | 2.0 | 4.3 |
| Wales | 189,380 | 0.9 | 2.4 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 188,044 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
| North East | 150,304 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove April 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| TfL Zone 4 | 491,958 | 1.1 | 0.2 |
| TfL Zone 6 | 498,077 | 0.2 | -0.5 |
| TfL Zone 2 | 750,636 | 0.4 | -1.7 |
| TfL Zone 1 | 1,296,428 | -6.4 | -4.3 |
| LCL Acadata March 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 2,570,950 | 6.5 | 30.7 |
| Redbridge | 472,594 | 1.4 | 6.2 |
| Richmond | 709,360 | -1.6 | -14.7 |
| Wandsworth | 670,004 | -3.5 | -15.9 |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for March reported a quarter of respondents of the opinion that help to buy was causing problems for second steppers, losing sales as potential buyers are lured by new home incentives.
London and the South East continue to hold back average price increases, although half of respondents anticipate higher prices at the end of the year in all areas, with the exception of L0ndon. Also in London, more properties were being withdrawn from the market than a year ago.
New buyer enquiries fell for the twelfth successive month, largely due to a lack of new instructions coming on to the market.
Tenant demand unchanged, but landlord instructions continued to decline.
Source: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Rightmove.co.uk is the UK’s leading property website, displaying details of homes for sale or rent to the largest online audience. It is consistently ranked the number one property website in the UK (source: Experian Hitwise). It has around 90% of all properties for sale and at any time displays a stock of over one million properties to buy or rent, worth around £270 billion. The Rightmove.co.uk site attracts over 130 million visits from home movers each month with time on site averaging over one billion minutes per month (Rightmove data, 2017).
LSL Acad E&W HPI is derived from Land Registry (LR) house price data, seasonally and mix adjusted by property type. © Crown copyright material reproduced with the permission of Land Registry. The prices are smoothed to show underlying trends. LSL Acad E&W HPI includes cash purchase prices and is the only index based upon the complete, factual house price data for England & Wales, as opposed to a sample.
UK HPI: Monthly house price inflation, calculated using data from Land Registry, Registers of Scotland and Land and Property Services Northern Ireland. This replaces the previous House Price Indices separately published by Office of National Statistics and Land Registry.
All figures within this article are correct at the time of going to press, and are reproduced in good faith. No responsibility will be taken for any decisions taken based on the information contained herein. Always seek professional advice.
Next Monthly Market Fact File due in April 2018.
© www.PropertySurveying.co.uk
SH/LCB