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 = £226,906, up 1.2% in the month, up 3.9% in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 119.0
Land Registry’s April report showed the greatest house price increases in the North East, at 4.2%, while the greatest fall was in the East of England which fell by -0.8%. For the sixth consecutive month, London recorded the lowest annual growth of any UK country or English region, at 1.0% for the year.
Both demand and supply for new houses coming to the market are subdued. New build property continues to be in demand, supported by Help to Buy. The south had recorded an excess supply of newly built homes, while the north recorded excess demand, with a resultant overall modest excess in supply.
Halifax
UK average house price = £224,439, up 1.5% in the month, 0.2% in the quarter, 1.9% in the year.
Mortgage approvals have softened since the sharp rise recorded in January, but newly agreed house sales and new buyer enquiries seem more stable. Increases in the employment rate and earnings, while mortgage rates continue at a low rate, have resulted in a positive effect on housing activity.
The average price of flats has increased by 48% or over £75,000 in just five years, and they now account for 15% of home sales.
Rightmove
England and Wales average house asking price = £309,439 up 0.4% in the month and up 1.7% in the year.
Rightmove recorded the highest asking price of newly marketed property for the third consecutive month. Stock levels of available property are higher in the south (up by 17.5% on average in the last year), where the market has seen less buying activity. Stock in the north has reduced by 4.3%, leaving the national average at 6.4%.
London sellers are warned that they will need to compete harder on price to achieve a sale, with 16.4% more available property on the market compared to the same period last year.
Nationwide
UK average house price = £213,618 down -0.2% in the month, up 2.4% in the year.
The market remained cautious, with an expected 1% house price growth in 2018.
The report commented on the 20% increase in housing stock owned by private landlords over the last 20 years, although the number of owner occupied dwellings was broadly unchanged.
Also of interest was analysis of the English Housing Survey, showing 60% of flats were privately rented, compared to 18% of other property types. Flats have increased in popularity with investors and builders, and accounted for 20% of new dwellings last year.
LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £305,654, 0.0% change in the month, up 2.2% in the year.
In its June report, LSL reported the first annual growth rate in 11 months, with every region recording growth, although the number of transactions was down by 6% in the year to date.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (>£40k) for May 2018 was 99,590, representing an increase of 0.8% between Apr-May 2018, and the seasonally adjusted figure is -0.5% lower than May 2017. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 12.1% higher than April 2018, and -1.0% lower than May 2017.
The number of non-residential property transactions increased by 2.6% between Apr-May 2018. This is 1.4% higher than May 2017.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Of the 78,408 residential sales received for registration in April, the most expensive residential property sale was a detached property in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, which sold for £19,800,000. There were 363 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 213 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a terraced property in Burnley, Lancashire which sold for £17,500.
[The next dataset will be published on 28th June and included in our July propertysurveying.co.uk factfile.]
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| April 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £243,639 | 1.1% | 3.7% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 – 2018) | £130,026 | 0.3% | 4.2% |
| Scotland | £148,952 | 2.5% | 5.6% |
| Wales | £156,495 | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| East Midlands | £186,480 | 1.3% | 4.8% |
| East of England | £286,447 | -0.8% | 2.5% |
| London | £484,584 | 2.4% | 1.0% |
| North East | £130,489 | 4.2% | 4.5% |
| North West | £155,868 | 0.0% | 2.4% |
| South East | £324,530 | 0.9% | 3.5% |
| South West | £255,207 | 1.8% | 6.1% |
| West Midlands Region | £192,090 | 0.8% | 5.9% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £158,545 | 1.4% | 3.5% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | April 2018 GBP | April 2017 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £342,154 | £329,648 | 3.8% |
| Semi-detached | £214,717 | £203,912 | 5.3% |
| Terraced | £184,304 | £176,044 | 4.7% |
| Flat or maisonette | £202,052 | £199,983 | 1.0% |
| All | £226,906 | £218,481 | 3.9% |
Rightmove regional figures
| June 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | 631,737 | -0.9 | -1.0 |
| South East | 412,073 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| South West | 312,201 | 1.1 | 3.7 |
| East of England | 360,071 | 0.7 | 2.4 |
| West Midlands | 226,264 | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| East Midlands | 222,877 | -0.2 | 4.6 |
| North West | 196,450 | 1.1 | 4.9 |
| Wales | 194,028 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 192,861 | 1.3 | 4.0 |
| North East | 149,098 | -0.5 | -0.1 |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove June 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Redbridge | 473,394 | 0.8 | 4.2 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 1,726,570 | 3.6 | 3.0 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 928,028 | -0.5 | -3.9 |
| Ealing | 558,569 | -0.3 | -4.5 |
| LCL Acadata June 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 2,171,189 | -8.1 | 10.4 |
| Lambeth | 639,710 | -2.6 | 5.8 |
| Wandsworth | 683,355 | -0.8 | -13.1 |
| Southwark | 576,383 | -4.3 | -19.1 |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for May reported that new instructions were beginning to edge into positive figures for the first time since May 2016.
Buyer demand, while still in decline, has eased slightly since January, with half of respondents to the survey seeing an increase in new buyer enquiries.
There are still significant regional variations, with London property prices still falling, although the number of new instructions coming onto the market was positive for the first time in over two years. House prices in Wales, the Midlands and North West are expected to continue to rise while, in the south of England, the outlook is more negative.
The demand for rental property was flat for the fifth consecutive month but the lack of supply suggested an increase in rents nationally, over the next year.
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 July 2018.
© www.PropertySurveying.co.uk
SH/LCB