Welcome to the February 2020 Property Surveying 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 = £234,742, 0.3% change in the month, 2.2% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 123.0
The South East of England saw the lowest annual growth at 1.2% over the year to December. Indications showed renewed completed transactions, buyer demand and enquiries.
Halifax
UK average house price = £240,054, up 0.4% in the month, up 2.3% in the quarter, 4.1% in the year.
There are signs of an improvement in the housing market with a rise in housing transactions and more buyer and seller activity. This may well reflect the usual surge in activity to be expected in spring and it is too early to confirm an improvement in market certainty.
First time buyers are still struggling to raise a large enough deposit while rental growth is accelerating.
England and Wales average house asking price = £309,399, up 0.8% in the month up 2.9% in the year.
Monthly user traffic on Rightmove up 7.2% on last year, and a record 152 million visits to the site in January. Home sales increased by 12.3% year on year nationally and 26.4% in London.
The number of new property sellers rose for the first time in 13 months, up 2.1% compared to the same period last year, but numbers were still insufficient to keep pace with demand.
The only region to record a negative annual change was the North East of England, where asking prices fell by -0.1%.
UK average house price = £215,897, 0.5% change in the month and 1.9% increase in the year.
January’s modest increase in annual house prices followed twelve successive months of annual growth below 1%.
The number of younger home owners (age 25-34) rose over the last year to 41%, although there were still fewer than in 2004 when this group peaked at 59%.
Mortgage affordability for first time buyers outside London and the South East of England is higher than in 2009, largely due to today’s lower borrowing costs.
House prices in London rose on average twice as fast than any other region in the 2010s, at 66%, compared to just 11% in the North of England.
Average England and Wales house price = £304,280, 0.1% change in the month, 0.8% in the year.
Average house prices rose 42.6% over the last ten years, from £213,112 to £303,842. London and the South East of England top the list and the North East at the bottom, with house prices increasing over the ten years by 11.3%.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for December 2019 was 104,670, representing an increase of 6.2% in November 2019, and the seasonally adjusted figure is 6.8% higher than December 2018.
The number of non-residential property transactions increased by 13.4% in November 2019, and 0.8% higher than December 2018.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Overall 83,500 residential sales were received for registration in December. The most expensive residential property sale was in City of Westminster, London, which sold for £39,500,000. There were 453 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 275 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a property in Seaham, County Durham, which sold for £20,000.
Newly built property sales decreased by -9.1% compared to December 2018.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| December 2019 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £251,711 | 0.6% | 2.2% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2019) | £140,190 | 0.2% | 2.5% |
| Scotland | £151,603 | -1.5% | 2.2% |
| Wales | £166,735 | -2.0% | 2.2% |
| East Midlands | £197,048 | 0.5% | 2.8% |
| East of England | £297,714 | 2.1% | 2.4% |
| London | £483,922 | 1.6% | 2.3% |
| North East | £130,977 | 0.5% | 1.8% |
| North West | £166,003 | -0.6% | 2.0% |
| South East | £325,050 | -0.3% | 1.2% |
| South West | £262,286 | 1.3% | 2.2% |
| West Midlands | £201,343 | -0.4% | 1.4% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £168,382 | 1.7% | 3.9% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | December 2019 GBP | December 2018 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £359,542 | £347,744 | 3.4% |
| Semi-detached | £223,053 | £217,796 | 2.4% |
| Terraced | £189,326 | £185,194 | 2.1% |
| Flat or maisonette | £206,083 | £205,194 | 0.4% |
| All | £234,742 | £229,729 | 2.2% |
Rightmove regional figures
| February 2020 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | £629,053 | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| South East | £404,114 | 1.0% | 2.2% |
| South West | £308,106 | 1.6% | 3.5% |
| East of England | £353,078 | 0.7% | 1.7% |
| West Midlands | £231,893 | 0.7% | 4.2% |
| East Midlands | £353,078 | 0.7% | 1.9% |
| North West | £200,985 | 2.3% | 4.6% |
| Wales | £199,621 | 3.4% | 3.8% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £197,344 | 3.5% | 5.1% |
| North East | £151,206 | 2.1% | -0.1% |
Nationwide regional figures
| Q3: 3 months to September 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Annual % change (this quarter) | Annual % change (previous quarter) |
| N Ireland | £144,053 | 3.4% | 5.2% |
| North West | 166,597 | 2.5% | 1.2% |
| East Midlands | £187,212 | 0.4% | 2.0% |
| West Midlands | £194,549 | 2.1% | 2.6% |
| Scotland | £150,410 | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £160,432 | 0.1% | 3.0% |
| East Anglia | £232,587 | 1.7% | 1.4% |
| Wales | £159,355 | 2.9% | 4.2% |
| North | £127,570 | 2.0% | 1.8% |
| South West | £246,658 | 0.5% | 1.1% |
| Outer South East | £278,134 | -0.6% | -1.6% |
| Outer Met | £358,833 | -1.5% | -1.8% |
| London | £460,686 | -1.7% | -0.7% |
| UK | £216,805 | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| LSL Acadata Regional Data – January 2020 | Average House Price £ GBP | Monthly % change | Annual % Change |
| Greater London | £618,825 | 0.6% | 2.0% |
| South East | £375,052 | 0.0% | -0.3% |
| South West | £294,228 | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| East of England | £325,938 | -0.7% | -1.5% |
| West Midlands | £228,929 | -0.3% | -0.1% |
| East Midlands | £222,522 | -0.3% | 1.0% |
| North West | £200,235 | 0.3% | 1.8% |
| Wales | £193,924 | 0.2% | 3.4% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £198,170 | -0.3% | 2.2% |
| North East | £164,802 | -0.1% | 2.1% |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove February 2020 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Lambeth | £647,908 | 3.1% | 7.7% |
| Sutton | £471,204 | 2.4% | 7.1% |
| Wandsworth | £786,625 | 3.8% | -1.9% |
| Havering | £401,493 | -1.1% | -3.1% |
| LCL Acadata January 2020 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| City of Westminster | £1,767,694 | 4.5% | 14.4% |
| Hackney | £629,502 | -0.2% | 7.6% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | £1,684,737 | -0.9% | -15.9% |
| Southwark | £582,722 | -1.3% | -24.9% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for January 2019 reported a rise in home buyer enquiries, agreed sales and new property instructions, as well as an upbeat outlook among survey respondents. Pressure on house prices is beginning to build on these stronger trends.
Tenant demand rose in the lettings market over the last quarter but landlord instructions fell for the 15th consecutive month. Accordingly, rents are expected to rise, with twelve month predictions of a 2% increase.
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 March.
Back to February 2020 Newsletter
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