Our monthly Property Surveying summary of property market news, survey data, statistics, trends and information. (All figures below are the most recently available data.)
Data source: Land Registry
UK average house price = £274,712, 0.8% change in the month, 10.8% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) 144.1
There was a marked difference in house price growth in the year to December between the regions, with Wales at the top at 13% and the lowest in London at 5.5%.
There was a slight rise in buyer enquiries and sales are expected to increase over the next three months, after a slow start to the year.
UK average house price = £276,759, 0.3% in the month, 3.1% up in the quarter, 9.7% in the year. Monthly index (where January 1992 = 100) 477.2
The number of housing transactions returned to more ‘normal’ levels in January, as house price growth slowed to the lowest level since June 2021. House prices are on average £24,500 higher than a year ago, and £37,500 higher than two years ago.
Affordability remains an issue, particularly for first time buyers, as house prices continue to increase at higher levels than earnings. Cost of living increases and a limited supply of houses on the market are likely to worsen the situation.
National average house asking price = £348,804, 2.3% in the month and 9.5% in the year.
House prices have reached their highest annual rate of growth since September 2014. The number of buyer enquiries has increased by 16% since January 2021.
UK average house price = £255,556, 0.8% change in the month and 11.2% increase in the year
January saw the strongest start to the year since 2005.
A first time buyer now needs 56% of gross annual earnings to pay a 10% deposit on the average first time buyer home. Mortgage payments are above average even though interest rates have been consistently low for some time. This is likely to result in the housing market slowing down this year, as house price growth has outstripped earnings growth and affordability has reduced.
Average England and Wales house price = £357,750, 1.5% change in the month, 7.7% in the year.
West Midlands saw the highest annual house price growth at 12%, with detached homes seeing the biggest percentage increase.
There has been an increase in demand for homes in commuter towns now that people are beginning to return to the workplace.
UK Property Transaction Statistics
The number of residential property transactions over £40,000 in January 2022 was 85,520 – down 12.6% since a year ago and 22% lower than December 2021.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
(all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise)
UK HPI Regional figures
| December 2021 | Average Price | % Monthly change | % Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | £293,339 | 1.1% | 10.7% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2021) | £159,109 | 3.0% | 10.7% |
| Scotland | £180,485 | -1.8% | 11.2% |
| Wales | £204,835 | 2.0% | 13.0% |
| East Midlands | £339,502 | 0.4% | 12.1% |
| East of England | £339,502 | 0.4% | 11.7% |
| London | £521,146 | 0.2% | 5.5% |
| North East | £147,214 | -1.5% | 5.9% |
| North West | £200,172 | 0.6% | 10.2% |
| South East | £380,237 | 1.6% | 12.6% |
| South West | £314,037 | 1.9% | 13.6% |
| West Midlands | £238,238 | 2.6% | 11.5% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £196,877 | 1.8% | 9.8% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | December 2021 | December 2020 | Difference |
| Detached | £437,452 | £379,432 | 15.3% |
| Semi-detached | £262,751 | £236,485 | 11.1% |
| Terraced | £223,068 | £203,387 | 9.7% |
| Flat or maisonette | £223,489 | £211,424 | 5.7% |
| All | £274,712 | £247,984 | 10.8% |
Halifax regional house price figures
| 12 months to October 2021 |
Average Price | Annual £ change | Annual % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | £231,134 | £28,454 | 14.0% |
| N Ireland | £188,892 | £13,364 | 7.6% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £231,553 | £21,695 | 10.3% |
| Scotland | £207,778 | £16,761 | 8.8% |
| North West | £242,286 | £18,373 | 8.2% |
| North | £195,515 | £19,837 | 5.9% |
| East Midlands | £265,828 | £24,375 | 10.1% |
| West Midlands | £266,659 | £15,185 | 6.0% |
| South West | £329,110 | 22,608 | 7.4% |
| South East | £420,042 | £11,651 | 2.9% |
| East Anglia | £322,604 | £27,790 | 9.4% |
| Greater London | £554,684 | -£3,588 | -0.6% |
| UK average | £323,355 | £18,757 | 6.2% |
Rightmove regional figures
| January 2022 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| London | £667,001 | 6.0% | 10.7% |
| South East | £458,954 | 1.8% | 10.7% |
| South West | £360,589 | 0.4% | 13.2% |
| East of England | £403,745 | 1.9% | 10.9% |
| West Midlands | £268,307 | 2.1% | 11.4% |
| East Midlands | £267,846 | 0.4% | 13.3% |
| North West | £236,267 | 3.2% | 9.6% |
| Wales | £238,304 | 3.2% | 12.2% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £228,267 | 6.2% | 12.6% |
| North East | £169,614 | 2.6% | 6.4% |
LSL Acadata Regional Data
| December 2021 | Average House Price £ GBP | Monthly % change | Annual % Change Greater |
| Greater London | £691,023 | 0.9% | 7.0% |
| South East | £460,023 | 2.1% | 10.3% |
| South West | £350,034 | 2.0% | 4.8% |
| East of England | £380,436 | 0.9% | 7.0% |
| West Midlands | £288,033 | 4.4% | 12.0% |
| East Midlands | £254,317 | 0.4% | 2.3% |
| North West | £237,582 | 3.1% | 4.4% |
| Wales | £230,155 | 0.6% | 8.5% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £233,110 | 3.4% | 4.9% |
| North East | £184,377 | 2.1% | 1.1% |
Focus on London
Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove February 2021 |
Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Bromley | £610,457 | 0.9% | 11.5% |
| Barking & Dagenham | £361,509 | 1.4% | 10.8% |
| Haringey | £626,335 | 0.9% | 0.0% |
| Hackney | £653,345 | 4.0% | -0.9% |
| LCL Acadata December 2021 |
Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Merton | £855,501 | -1.1% | 21.9% |
| Camden | £1,279,122 | 5.7% | 16.6% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | £2,007,264 | 1.3% | -9.1% |
| Newham | £398,465 | 2.2% | -12.8% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for January 2022 reported rising new buyer enquiries and steady sales, although there remains a lack of supply of homes coming onto the housing market.
Despite a rise in interest rates, modest growth in demand and house prices is expected to continue. Surveyors in the North West and South East of England reported the highest rate of growth.
Tenant demand is rising and rental growth is now expected to reach 4% on average over the year.
Rightmove.co.uk is the UKs 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.
The Monthly Market Fact File is updated monthly on the day of publication.
SH/LCB