Welcome to the May 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 = £226,798, 1.4% change in the month, -0.2% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 119.0
House price growth in March was weakest in London, where prices fell by -1.9% over the year although this was slightly higher than February’s -2.7% fall.
House prices in England increased by 1.1% in the year to March but were stronger in other parts of the UK; Scotland house prices increased by 3.3% and Wales by 3.0%.
Halifax
UK average house price = £236,619, up 1.1% in the month, 4.2% in the quarter, 5.0% in the year.
House prices have increased, on average, 4.3% per annum since the 2008 financial crisis. This equates to an average house price increase of £81,956 over the last ten years.
April’s 5% annual house price increase reflects the poor growth over the same period in 2018. This was helped by an increase in London sales and sales of more expensive new build properties, as well as a higher growth figure for February.
England and Wales average house asking price = £305,449, up 1.1% in the month and down -0.1% in the year.
The sale of family homes (three and four bedroom houses) outperformed other markets with family needs outweighing market uncertainty, perhaps helped along with the delay in Britain leaving the EU. House sales in this market fell by -0.4% on last year, while the national average dropped -1.6%.
Nationwide
UK average house price = £214,920, 0.4% change in the month and up 0.9% in the year.
Annual house price growth was weak, although seasonal factors reflected in a 0.4% increase in the month.
Through support by the government, low mortgage interest levels and a strong labour market, first time mortgages continue to increase and are close to pre-financial crisis levels. Saving for a deposit is the biggest barrier for most first time house buyers.
LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £302,122, down -0.1% in the month, up 0.2% in the year.
Brexit uncertainty, lack of affordability and buy-to-let policy impacts all contributed to a slow down in the market. Despite this, first time buyer activity is still strong.
In a survey, a quarter of the Residential Landlords Association members said they were likely to sell at least one property in the next year. First time buyers are likely to benefit from this in combination with a strong re-mortgage market against the new house purchase market.
Sellers in some areas, including London, are dropping house prices in order to achieve a sale. However, only a few boroughs are seeing a positive effect from price reductions.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for March 2019 was 101,830, representing an increase of 1.4% between Feb 2019-Mar 2019, and the seasonally adjusted figure is 6.8% higher than March 2018.
The number of non-residential property transactions increased by 8.9% between Feb 2019-Mar 2019. This is 9.7% higher than March 2018.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Of the 88,500 residential sales received for registration in March, the most expensive residential property sale was a flat in the Borough of Camden, London, which sold for £38,500,000. There were 451 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 251 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a terraced property in Ferryhill, County Durham, which sold for £17,250.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| March 2019 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £243,128 | -0.5% | 1.1% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 – 2019) | £134,811 | -1.0% | 3.5% |
| Scotland | £149,461 | 1.9% | 3.3% |
| Wales | £158,696 | 0.0% | 3.0% |
| East Midlands | £190,171 | -0.4% | 2.9% |
| East of England | £286,611 | -1.1% | 0.0% |
| London | £463,283 | -0.4% | -1.9% |
| North East | £123,046 | -1.1% | -0.8% |
| North West | £159,471 | -1.7% | 2.5% |
| South East | £318,491 | -0.6% | -0.4% |
| South West | £253,752 | -0.3% | 1.3% |
| West Midlands | £196,571 | -0.5% | 3.4% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £162,129 | 1.8% | 3.6% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | March 2019 GBP | March 2018 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £346,474 | £339,362 | 2.1% |
| Semi-detached | £215,998 | £210,466 | 2.6% |
| Terraced | £181,995 | £180,891 | 0.6% |
| Flat or maisonette | £200,335 | £200,056 | 0.1% |
| All | £226,798 | £223,612 | 1.4% |
Rightmove regional figures
| April 2019 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | 614,250 | 1.1 | -2.2 |
| South East | 405,009 | 1.7 | -0.9 |
| South West | 305,911 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| East of England | 351,759 | 0.8 | -0.5 |
| West Midlands | 228,151 | 0.9 | 3.8 |
| East Midlands | 227,093 | 1.1 | 2.6 |
| North West | 197,073 | 0.4 | 1.7 |
| Wales | 196,254 | 0.7 | 3.6 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 193,725 | 1.9 | 3.0 |
| North East | 151,469 | 1.4 | 0.8 |
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 April 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Havering | 411,119 | -0.6% | 0.4% |
| Southwark | 645,549 | 2.6% | 0.2% |
| Hackney | 625,637 | -0.7% | -5.8% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 1,516,867 | 0.5% | -7.0% |
| LCL Acadata March 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Southwark | 831,236 | -1.5% | 32.9% |
| Ealing | 587,741 | -1.3% | 6.2% |
| City of Westminster | 1,466,121 | 5.2% | -18.8% |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 830,672 | -2.9% | -18.9% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for April indicated that buyer enquiries, house sales and new listings were all in decline, although market expectation over the next twelve months was for moderate improvement.
The London and the South East regions continue to be under pressure, but the South West has also returned negative house price net balances for six consecutive months.
Over half of £1 million-plus houses sold for less than the asking price, although figures were higher six months ago.
A flat or declining house sales trend is predicted across the UK over the next three months.
The rental market is enjoying a slight increase in tenant demand although landlord instructions are falling. The upcoming lettings fee ban and proposed abolition of Section 21 could lead to more landlords selling their rental properties. Rents are predicted to rise 2% over the next year.
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 June.
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