Welcome to the August 2018 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 = £228,384, up 0.4% in the month, up 3.0% in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 119.8
In June, UK house prices rose at the lowest rate since August 2013.
New buyer enquiries were flat but there was an increase in house sale enquiries which marginally increased the number of properties on estate agent books. Completions are taking an average 18 weeks, two weeks longer than 2017. There were 1.4% more mortgage approvals than in May.
The West Midlands was the fastest growing region at 5.8% annual house price growth, while London remains the slowest at -0.7%, down 0.2% from last month.
Halifax
UK average house price = £230,280, up 1.4% in the month, up 1.3% in the quarter, up 3.3% in the year.
A rise in house prices has led to a new record selling price of £230,280. The Halifax reports an easing of household finances, as wages start to rise and low unemployment figures.
Mortgage approvals have risen by 1.4% but new buyer enquiries have been flat/falling for 18 consecutive months with fewer agreed sales. New instructions have increased for two months after 26 months of consecutive falls.
Rightmove
England and Wales average house asking price = £301,973, down -2.3% in the month and up 1.1% in the year.
The asking price for home sales is suffering a ‘seasonal drop’ as sellers aim to attract buyers before the end of the summer. A drop in average asking price was experienced in all areas of England and Wales in August.
The traditional deadline for Christmas house moves is now 18 weeks away, prompting Rightmove to advise buyers to ensure finances are in place and sellers to price competitively. Estate agent housing stocks are marginally up at an average of 53 properties.
Nationwide
UK average house price = £217,010, up 0.6% in the month and 2.5% in the year.
Any interest rate increases are unlikely to impact the housing market greatly, providing economic stability continues, largely due to fixed rate mortgages which account for 65% of the market.
Household budgets will continue to pressurise the housing market until wage growth is achieved, with current wage rates at 2005 levels.
LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £302,251, -0.2% change in the month, up 1.6% in the year.
House prices fell for the fifth successive month, although still positive in the year and there is evidence that house prices appear to be stabilising.
The London housing market continues to lag, with sales falling 7% on last year and house prices falling in 21 of the 33 boroughs annually.
The sale of one property near Newbury saw the South East seeing an overall increase of 11.5% in the year. The true figure is nearer 0.5% annually, with seven of 31 areas seeing housing prices fall in the year in the South East.
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for June 2018 was 96,340, representing a decrease of -3.0% between May-June 2018, and the seasonally adjusted figure is -5.7% lower than June 2017. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 13.0% higher than May 2018, and -8.8% lower than June 2017.
The number of non-residential property transactions decreased by -4.2% between May-June 2018. This is -8.5% lower than June 2017.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Of the 85,493 residential sales received for registration in June, the most expensive residential property sale was a detached property in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, which sold for £28,500,000. There were 387 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 230 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a terraced property in County Durham which sold for £17,250.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| June 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £245,076 | 0.3% | 2.7% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 – 2018) | £132,795 | -1.0% | 4.4% |
| Scotland | £150,472 | 0.8% | 4.8% |
| Wales | £156,886 | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| East Midlands | £187,553 | -0.5% | 4.1% |
| East of England | £292,632 | 1.0% | 3.3% |
| London | £476,752 | -0.6% | -0.7% |
| North East | £127,271 | -1.9% | -0.6% |
| North West | £159,801 | 0.5% | 3.1% |
| South East | £325,107 | 0.6% | 2.1% |
| South West | £252,558 | -0.5% | 3.1% |
| West Midlands Region | £196,015 | 1.9% | 5.8% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £160,727 | 0.9% | 3.2% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | June 2018 GBP | June 2017 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 342,739 | 332,061 | 3.2% |
| Semi-detached | 216,218 | 207,131 | 4.4% |
| Terraced | 185,623 | 179,251 | 3.6% |
| Flat or maisonette | 204,247 | 203,268 | 0.5% |
| All | 228,384 | 221,670 | 3.0% |
Rightmove regional figures
| August 2018 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | 609,205 | -3.1 | -1.2 |
| South East | 402,562 | -2.3 | 0.6 |
| South West | 307,291 | -0.9 | 3.0 |
| East of England | 352,217 | -1.1 | 0.4 |
| West Midlands | 225,431 | -1.0 | 5.1 |
| East Midlands | 223,172 | -1.4 | 3.4 |
| North West | 191,822 | -1.9 | 2.2 |
| Wales | 196,278 | -0.1 | 4.9 |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 188,984 | -1.4 | 2.9 |
| North East | 148,898 | -1.4 | 1.3 |
Nationwide regional figures
| Q2: 3 months to June 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Annual % change (this quarter) | Annual % change (previous quarter) |
| East Midlands | 181,549 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| West Midlands | 188,516 | 4.3 | 4.9 |
| Wales | 153,964 | 4.0 | 6.1 |
| North West | 160,419 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| Outer South East | 281,752 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
| East Anglia | 225,768 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| South West | 243,182 | 2.4 | 2.9 |
| Yorks & Humberside | 155,075 | 2.1 | 4.1 |
| North of England | 127,266 | 1.6 | 4.1 |
| Outer Met | 365,514 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| London | 468,845 | -1.9 | -1.0 |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove August 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 1,612,067 | -3.0 | 2.4 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 317,574 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| Hackney | 650,415 | 0.2 | -4.6 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 886,670 | -2.0 | -6.0 |
| LCL Acadata July 2018 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Redbridge | 472,061 | 1.2% | 6.4% |
| Hounslow | 509,855 | 2.4% | 5.7% |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 580,952 | -0.7% | -11.7% |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 854,606 | -1.9% | -11.7% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for July reported a signficant reduction of property in the lettings market across the country, worsened by the tax changes on Buy to Let property. New landlord instructions have fallen for the eighth consecutive month, with 9% more respondents seeing a fall rather than a rise.
Tenant demand remains strong, reflected in a prediction of property rental growth which expected to increase by 2% in the next year and up to 15% by 2023. East Anglia and the South West are likely to be the most affected.
The sales market remains flat nationally and the Bank of England interest rate change had little effect.
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 September 2018.
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