Welcome to the April 2019 Property Market fact file – 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 = £226,234, -0.8% change in the month, 0.6% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 118.7
House prices in February 2019 were the lowest since September 2012. Wales was the region with the strongest house price growth, at 4.1% in the year. House prices in the South East fell by -1.8% in the year, the first yearly fall since October 2011.
All aspects of the housing market continues to be weakened by Brexit uncertainty and a slow down in the new build housing market has led housebuilders to offer significant incentives. Mortgage approvals for house purchases were slightly below the six month average at 64,300.
Halifax
UK average house price = £233,181, down -1.6% in the month, up 1.6% in the quarter, 2.6% in the year.
House prices in March partly reflect the ‘significant growth’ of February which highlights the current market volatility. The number of mortgage approvals is 40% below the pre-financial crisis but annual house price growth is within the year’s expectation. Deposits remain the biggest challenge for many people but a low supply of houses continues to support prices. The number of homes sold in February was near the five year average.
England and Wales average house asking price = £302,002, up 0.4% in the month and down -0.8% in the year.
The usually busy spring market is off to a slow start, with the lowest average monthly house price rise since 2011, mainly affected by London prices. Outside London, the number of new sellers rose in nine out of eleven regions. Rightmove searches were steady, indicating that home movers were watching the market.
Nationwide
UK average house price = £213,102, 0.2% change in the month and up 0.7% in the year.
There was a steady housing market in March although weaker consumer confidence since the beginning of the year has meant fewer properties on the market and a decline in new buyers. London and the South East saw house price falls but elsewhere prices have risen.
House prices in Northern England, Wales and Scotland are now close to pre-financial crisis levels, but elsewhere are above, particularly the South of England. Northern Ireland house prices are still over 35% lower than the highest recorded in 2007.
LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £302,435, up 0.5% in the month, down -0.5% in the year.
While house prices rose for three consecutive months to February, there was a spike early last year which meant prices were down comparatively. Rising prices and slow wage growth meant affordability challenges but improvements in housing supply and pay increases would help.
London prices have risen for the last five months, where the average price is £622,494. Of the 108 local authorities, 59 saw average house prices rise.
Prices in some parts of the country were strong with growth in Bournemouth (7.3%), the Isle of Wight (7.0%), Cardiff (5.3%) and Southampton (4.2%). This was offset in other places with lower prices in Bath (-10.2%), North East Somerset (-5.4%), Redcar and Cleveland (-7.3%) and Middlesborough (-6.5%).
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for February 2019 was 101,780, representing an increase of 1.7% between Jan 2019-Feb 2019, and the seasonally adjusted figure is 2.7% higher than February 2018. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 2.7% higher than February 2018.
The number of non-residential property transactions increased by 6.7% between Jan 2018-Feb 2019. This is 2.1% higher than February 2018.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Of the 82,000 residential sales received for registration in February, the most expensive residential property sale was a flat in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, which sold for £9,813,370. There were 366 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 199 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a terraced property in Hartlepool, which sold for £19,000.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| February 2019 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £242,964 | -0.6% | 0.4% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2018) | £136,669 | 1.3% | 5.5% |
| Scotland | £145,762 | -3.1% | -0.2% |
| Wales | £159,559 | 0.2% | 4.1% |
| East Midlands | £190,199 | -0.5% | 1.6% |
| East of England | £290,137 | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| London | £459,800 | -2.0% | -3.8% |
| North East | £125,397 | -0.4% | -0.8% |
| North West | £163,758 | 1.3% | 4.0% |
| South East | £315,700 | -1.7% | -1.8% |
| South West | £253,730 | -0.4% | 1.2% |
| West Midlands | £196,152 | 0.4% | 2.9% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £155,685 | -2.5% | 0.0% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | February 2019 GBP | February 2018 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £344,374 | £341,643 | 0.8% |
| Semi-detached | £215,632 | £210,922 | 2.2% |
| Terraced | £183,367 | £181,223 | 1.2% |
| Flat or maisonette | £197,693 | £203,309 | -2.8% |
| All | £226,234 | £224,968 | 0.6% |
Rightmove regional figures
| March 2019 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | 607,557 | -1.1 | -3.8 |
| South East | 398,184 | 0.7 | -1.5 |
| South West | 302,419 | 1.6 | 0.1 |
| East of England | 349,022 | 0.6 | -0.7 |
| West Midlands | 226,028 | 1.5 | 2.8 |
| East Midlands | 224,725 | 0.6 | 3.1 |
| North West | 196,350 | 2.2 | 3.4 |
| Wales | 194,842 | 1.4 | 3.8 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 190,164 | 1.3 | 3.4 |
| North East | 149,398 | -1.3 | 0.5 |
Nationwide regional figures
| Q1: 3 months to March 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Annual % change (this quarter) | Annual % change (previous quarter) |
| N Ireland | £142,484 | 3.3% | 5.8% |
| North West | £161,535 | 2.9% | 2.2% |
| East Midlands | £182,254 | 2.6% | 4.0% |
| West Midlands | £189,263 | 2.5% | 2.9% |
| Scotland | £147,728 | 2.4% | 0.9% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £157,311 | 2.1% | 3.7% |
| East Anglia | £225,945 | 1.7% | 2.0% |
| Wales | £153,287 | 0.9% | 4.0% |
| North | £129,458 | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| South West | £241,683 | 0.5% | 2.0% |
| Outer South East | £274,122 | -1.1% | 0.0% |
| Outer Met | £355,978 | -2.0% | -1.4% |
| London | £455,594 | -3.8% | -0.8 |
| UK | £212,694 | 0.4% | 1.3% |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove February 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Havering | 413,633 | -0.2% | 1.4% |
| Camden | 984,981 | -2.9% | 0.1% |
| Lambeth | 604,351 | 0.5% | -6.8% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 1,509,017 | -0.8% | -8.3% |
| LCL Acadata January 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Richmond upon Thames | 808,346 | 1.3% | 10.7% |
| Southwark | 708,020 | -0.3% | 6.2% |
| City of Westminster | 1,438,932 | -3.1% | -24.0% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 1,754,581 | -3.1% | -35.4% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for March indicated a decline in confirmed house sales and new home instructions, although mild optimism remains over the next twelve months.
There was a -27% drop in new buyer enquiries in March, the eighth successive monthly decline. Properties in most regions are taking 19 weeks to complete from listing, although in the South East it took longer at an average 21.5 weeks.
Surveyors were generally optimistic about the next twelve months, anticipating a house price rise across most areas of the country led by Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. London and the South East were the only regions where negative prices were expected in the year ahead.
Tenant demand in the lettings market rose for the third consecutive month but landlord instructions fell further. Rental growth is predicted at 2% in the coming year but could increase to 3% per annum up to 2024 due to a greater imbalance of supply and demand.
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 May.
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