Our monthly Property Surveying summary of property market news, survey data, statistics, trends and information. (All figures below are the most recently available data.)
UK House Price Index
Data source: Land Registry
UK average house price = £231,855, -0.2% change in the month, 2.1% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 121.6
The UK House Price Index was last published in March 2020. Until further notice, further updates have been suspended by the government.
The South West of England saw the greatest growth monthly, at 2.0%. The greatest fall was in Yorkshire and the Humber, where house prices fell -3.6%. London’s annual house price growth was 4.7%.
Halifax
UK average house price = £237,616, down -0.1% in the month, -0.9% up in the quarter, up 2.5% in the year.
The Halifax July report showed house prices down -0.9% than the first quarter and -0.1% from June. This was the first decrease of four consecutive months since 2010, when the property market was beginning to recover from the 2008 financial crisis.
Signs were positive, with a 100% increase in new mortgage activity compared to May and prospective buyers still interested in property in which they had suspended purchase.
Halifax predicts a modest downturn in property prices over the third quarter, due to uncertainty and potential changes in employment status as a result of the pandemic.
England and Wales average house asking price = £337,884, up 1.9% since March and 2.9% in the year.
Rightmove estimated there to be 175,000 ‘missing sellers’ between 24th March and 12th May but a record number of home owners is now emerging and daily listings are higher than the same period last year.
Prices still continuing to increase showed there was unfulfilled demand and England showed strong numbers of agreed sales,which on 5th June were just -3% below the same day in 2019. Wales and Scotland lagged behind with housing markets reopening later than England.
More interest was being shown by people looking for extra space and a larger garden and buyers were paying an average 97.7% of the property asking price.
The London Trend’s Report has not been published this month.
UK average house price = £216,403, -1.4% change in the month and -0.1% increase in the year.
The pandemic struck at a time that annual housing growth was gaining momentum in the UK, and house price growth was at the highest since February 2017. During the second quarter, modest growth was achieved in all regions except the North East, which was 0%. The highest performing region was the North West at 4.8% growth.
Post-pandemic, the housing market will likely respond according to the performance of the wider economy but a rebound should come that will help limit the lasting effects of the pandemic to the economy.
Average England and Wales house price = £301,097, -0.1% change in the month, 0.9% in the year.
The housing market is showing signs of picking up, with an increase in house surveys, viewings and completed transactions, but caution is recommended. The short term outlooks seems positive but it is being supported by Stamp Duty changes and there is still the prospect of an economic recession from this autumn. Long term, uncertainty remains.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for June 2020 was 63,250, representing a seasonally adjusted decrease of -35.9% from June 2019, and 31.7% increase from May 2020.
The number of non-residential property transactions for June 2020 was 7,340, a decrease of -27.4 from June 2019, and 31.2% increase from May 2020.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
HM Land Registry have not summarised the market data for June 2020 due to the impact of the Covid pandemic on its operations. Datasets are available.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| March 2020 | Average price GBP | % annual growth | % monthly change |
| England | £248,271 | 2.2% | -0.1% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 – 2020) | 3.8% | 0.2% | |
| Scotland | £141,856 | 1.5% | 0.4% |
| Wales | £161,684 | 1.1% | -2.8% |
| East Midlands | £194,664 | 2.1% | 0.4% |
| East of England | £291,254 | 1.3% | 0.0% |
| London | £485,794 | 4.7% | 1.2% |
| North East | £126,945 | 1.8% | -0.6% |
| North West | £166,202 | 3.4% | 0.2% |
| South East | £323,353 | 2.0% | 0.6% |
| South West | £263,360 | 4.1% | 2.0% |
| West Midlands | £195,917 | 0.4% | -2.3% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £159,208 | -1.0% | -3.6% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | March 2020 | March 2019 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £354,304 | £345,433 | 2.6% |
| Semi-detached | £220,269 | £215,930 | 2.0% |
| Terraced | £186,610 | £183,158 | 1.9% |
| Flat/maisonette | £204,849 | £201,004 | 1.9% |
| All | £231,855 | £227,104 | 2.1% |
Rightmove regional figures
| June 2020 | Average price GBP | Change since March | Annual change |
| London | £628,284 | -1.7% | 1.5% |
| South East | £419,595 | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| South West | £321,996 | 2.8% | 3.4% |
| East of England | £363,066 | 1.8% | 2.6% |
| West Midlands | £238,123 | 2.1% | 3.0% |
| East Midlands | £236,110 | 2.3% | 2.5% |
| North West | £206,909 | 2.8% | 3.1% |
| Wales | not published | ||
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £202,502 | 3.3% | 4.1% |
| North East | £157,291 | 2.3% | 2.3% |
Nationwide regional figures
| Q2: 3 months to June 2020 | Average House Price (£) GBP | Annual % change (this quarter) | Annual % change (previous quarter) |
| N Ireland (low sample size) | £143,437 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| North West | £170,216 | 4.0% | 0.8% |
| East Midlands | £187,812 | 1.5% | 3.6% |
| West Midlands | £194,577 | 0.6% | 2.5% |
| Scotland | £154,695 | 4.0% | 0.8% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £162,870 | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| East Anglia | £230,652 | 0.7% | 1.3% |
| Wales | £263,089 | 1.0% | 6.4% |
| North | £129,505 | 0.0% | -0.3% |
| South West | £251,392 | 2.3% | 1.5% |
| Outer South East | £282,936 | 2.1% | 1.7% |
| Outer Met | £364,529 | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| London | £475,448 | 2.1% | 1.0% |
| UK | £220,133 | 2.0% | 2.5% |
| LSL Acadata Regional Data – May 2020 | Average House Price £ GBP | Monthly % change | Annual % Change |
| Greater London | £591,889 | -0.3% | -2.4% |
| South East | £393,780 | 0.9% | 4.5% |
| South West | £299,606 | 0.5% | 4.1% |
| East of England | £331,279 | 0.0% | -0.7% |
| West Midlands | £228,745 | -0.5% | 0.0% |
| East Midlands | £220,738 | -0.7% | -0.9% |
| North West | £194,084 | -0.7% | 0.9% |
| Wales | £191,729 | -1.0% | 3.3% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £195,519 | -0.7% | 0.8% |
| North East | £162,184 | -1.4% | -1.9% |
Focus on London -Â Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove March 2020 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Lambeth | £656,625 | 1.3% | 8.6% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | £1,611,065 | 2.8% | 6.8% |
| Wandsworth | £797,854 | 1.4% | 0.0% |
| Havering | £401,493 | 2.1% | -0.9% |
| LCL Acadata April 2020 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Hackney | £629,240 | -2.3% | 10.6% |
| Wandsworth | £766,569 | 1.8% | 9.2% |
| Southwark | £423,442 | -1.98% | -16.3% |
| City of Westminster | £1,452,395 | -1.8% | -22.6% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for July 2020 reported a noticeable improvement in homebuyer enquiries, agreed sales and house sales instructions. Modest price reductions were seen from the previous month indicating a recovery in the housing market, but house sale expectations over the next twelve months remain subdued.
In the lettings market, tenant demand increased over the month and landlord instructions were similar to June. An increase of around 1% rental growth is expected nationally in the next twelve months.
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 August.
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