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 = £225,621, down -0.3% in the month, up 4.9% in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 118.3
New buyer enquiries declined for the tenth consecutive month.
Demand was weakest in the more expensive of the London and South East areas, although annual growth was lowest in the North East, followed by London at 2.1% (the 14th consecutive month where London’s annual growth has remained below UK average).
Mortgage approvals were the highest since July 2017.
Halifax
UK average house price = £224,353, up 0.4% in the month, down 0.7% in the quarter, up 1.8% in the year.
Low mortgage rates and high employment, coupled with earnings rising at a slower rate than prices continue, to affect the housing market. Prices remain slightly lower than the November 2017 average high of £226,408.
Rightmove
England and Wales average house asking price = £304,504 up 1.5% in the month and up 2.1% in the year.
Rightmove reported growth in demand from home movers, and a 1.5% increase in average asking prices. Most demand coming from first time buyers and ‘second steppers’. Price increases reflect demand created by the shortage of homes on the market and buyers hoping to beat possible interest rate rises.
Nationwide
UK average house price = £210,402 down -0.3% in the month, up 2.2% in the year.
Slowdown consistent with house price trends over recent months. Mortgage approvals at their weakest level for three years in December (61,000), but also subdued in October and November (65,000 approvals each month). The average over the last twelve months is 67,000.
Lack of property supply will continue to support house prices, but the market is predicted to remain flat – perhaps with a 1% gain over the year.
LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £299,556, up 0.5% in last month, up 0.6% in the year.
Excluding London and the South East, annual percentage increase in house prices would be 2.5%.
Mortgage approvals are higher than expected. Interest rate increases are anticipated which traditionally bring lower house prices.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (>£40k) for February 2018 was 101,010, representing an decrease of -0.3% between Jan-Feb 2018, and the seasonally adjusted figure is 0.7% lower than February 2017. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 2.0% higher than January 2018, and -1.0% lower than February 2017.
The number of non-residential property transactions increased by 5.6% between Jan-Feb 2018. This is 1.6% higher than February 2017.
Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency group in the UK, has published its Monthly Lettings Index for February 2018.
The average landlord owns property for an average 8.7 years and sells at an average profit of £86,651. London landlords gained the most profit when selling, at four times those outside London.
Rental growth slowed slightly but was supported by increases in London rents.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Of the 116,795 residential sales received for registration in January, the most expensive residential property sale was a semi-detached property in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which sold for £37,720,000. There were 449 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 307 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a terraced property in Burnley, Lancashire which sold for £15,000.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| January 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £242,286 | -0.5% | 4.6% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2017) | £130,482 | 1.0% | 4.3% |
| Scotland | £148,512 | 1.4% | 7.3% |
| Wales | £153,034 | -0.5% | 4.5% |
| East Midlands | £185,568 | -0.1% | 7.3% |
| East of England | £289,729 | -0.7% | 5.3% |
| London | £485,830 | 1.0% | 2.1% |
| North East | £122,870 | -5.5% | 0.7% |
| North West | £155,788 | -1.5% | 4.3% |
| South East | £323,435 | 0.2% | 3.4% |
| South West | £255,307 | 1.4% | 6.9% |
| West Midlands Region | £187,905 | -2.0% | 5.3% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £156,484 | -0.7% | 5.1% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | January 2018 GBP | January 2017 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached |  £341,478 | £325,283 | 5.0% |
| Semi-detached | £212,833 | £301,116 | 4.8% |
| Terraced | £181,256 | £173,221 | 4.6% |
| Flat or maisonette | £203,840 | £196,008 | 4.0% |
| All | £225,621 | £215,084 | 4.9% |
Rightmove regional figures
| March 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | Â 631,651 | 0.6 | -0.6 |
| South East | 404,291 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| South West | 302,081 | 2.8 | 4.1 |
| East of England | 351,605 | 1.1 | 2.9 |
| West Midlands | 219,941 | 1.9 | 5.1 |
| East Midlands | 217,952 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| North West | 189,900 | 1.1 | 4.7 |
| Wales | 187,739 | 0.5 | 6.2 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 183,998 | 1.5 | 2.3 |
| North East | 148,695 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove February 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| TfL Zone 1 | 1,384,382 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| TfL Zone 4 | 486,501 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| TfL Zone 5 | 482,319 | 0.3 | -0.9 |
| TfL Zone 2 | 747,910 | 0.3 | -0.9 |
| LCL Acadata February 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Brent | 587,372 | 0.2 | 8.5 |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 2,162,671 | -1.8 | 4.6 |
| Southwark | 585,157 | 1.2 | -12.2 |
| Wandsworth | 685,567 | -2.5 | -14.9 |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for February 2018 reported that new buyer enquiries had fallen for the eleventh successive month, with estate agent house sale instructions at a record low of an average of 42 properties for sale. Typical sales completion times have increased by an average of two weeks to 18.5 weeks since January 2017.
Stamp duty changes have not enticed new buyers into the market.
Regional variations continue, with Yorkshire and Humberside and the North seeing increases in average house prices. London and the South East, alongside the East Midlands, have seen the greatest negative results.
Respondents were asked about the key factors involved in the so-called demand for new build properties. Nationally, lack of second-hand stock was the main driver, followed by Help to Buy and also developer incentives. In London, Help to Buy was deemed the most important factor.
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.
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