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 = £237,834, 3.4% change in the month, 2.7% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 124.7
These figures were published in September for June 2020 following a suspended service since March 2020.
The region recording the highest house price growth was the East Midlands, at 4.5%. The lowest was seen in the North East at 1.7%.
The number of residential property transactions over £40,000 was 37.4% lower than a year ago. Mortgage lending remained below February’s figures.
Halifax
UK average house price = £245,747, up 1.6% in the month, 1.3% up in the quarter, up 5.2% in the year.
The Halifax September report showed house prices rising sharply to beat August expectations. Annual house price growth is at its strongest since the end of 2016.
House price inflation is unlikely to continue but will be confirmed after the end of the government’s Covid-19 support measures. In the medium term, some downward pressure is expected.
England and Wales average house asking price = £319,996, up 0.2% since March and 5.0% in the year.
The larger home market is growing strongly. The number of ‘top of the ladder’ homes sold increased by +104% and second step homes +55%, compared to last year.
An estimated 40% more properties are currently being bought or sold compared to last year.
UK average house price = £224,123, 2.0% change in the month and 3.7% increase in the year.
August showed the highest monthly rise in house prices since February 2004, when the figure was 2.7%.
Losses in May and June have now reversed and the market is reflecting a number of factors including pent up demand, the stamp duty holiday and people reassessing their housing needs following lockdown.
However, the housing market is likely to significantly weaken once government support is withdrawn.
Average England and Wales house price = £304,521, 0.5% change in the month, 1.5% in the year.
The continuation of house purchases previously put on hold because of lockdown has fuelled the housing market, and been further buoyed by the stamp duty holiday.
An increase in the number of people working from home, and people leaving the city, has increased the number of larger property purchases, especially those with private gardens.
There will be a period of ‘market readjustment’ once this current surge passes.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for August 2020 was 81,280, representing a seasonally adjusted decrease of -16.3% from August 2019, and 15.6% increase from July 2020.
The number of non-residential property transactions for August 2020 was 8,350, a decrease of -15.5 from August 2019, and 7.5% increase from July 2020.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
HM Land Registry has issued partial releases of market data since April 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) | |||
| June 2020 | Average price GBP | % annual growth | % monthly change |
| England | £254,423 | 2.8% | 3.5% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 2 – 2020) | £141,131 | 0.3% | 3.0% |
| Scotland | £157,056 | 2.8% | 2.9% |
| Wales | £167,505 | 2.7% | 2.8% |
| East Midlands | £200,682 | 2.6% | 4.5% |
| East of England | £295,856 | 2.0% | 2.6% |
| London | £490,495 | 3.6% | 4.2% |
| North East | £131,742 | 2.9% | 1.7% |
| North West | £170,939 | 4.3% | 4.4% |
| South East | £327,558 | 1.6% | 2.1% |
| South West | £263,474 | 2.9% | 4.3% |
| West Midlands | £204,664 | 3.0% | 4.1% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £169,020 | 2.7% | 3.3% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | June 2020 | June 2019 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £360,814 | £347,564 | 3.8% |
| Semi-detached | £227,561 | £218,676 | 4.1% |
| Terraced | £193,774 | £186.272 | 4.0% |
| Flat/maisonette | £206,148 | £204,271 | 0.9% |
| All | £237,834 | £230,049 | 3.4% |
Rightmove regional figures
|  September 2020 | Average price GBP | Change since March | Annual change |
| London | £633,269 | 0.6% | 4.9% |
| South East | £417,918 | -0.0% | 4.4% |
| South West | £322,434 | -0.3% | 3.9% |
| East of England | £363,521 | -0.4% | 3.5% |
| West Midlands | £243,765 | 0.2% | 6.2% |
| East Midlands | £242,555 | 0.3% | 5.8% |
| North West | £212,977 | 1.2% | 7.1% |
| Wales | £212,382 | -0.2 | 6.0% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £210,128 | 1.6% | 7.2% |
| North East | £162,955 | 2.0% | 6.4% |
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 – August 2020 | Average House Price £ GBP | Monthly % change | Annual % Change |
| Greater London | £633,906 | 1.9% | 2.2% |
| South East | £379,243 | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| South West | £294,024 | 1.4% | 2.1% |
| East of England | £332,743 | -0.3% | 0.9% |
| West Midlands | £230,913 | 0.8% | 1.3% |
| East Midlands | £222,598 | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| North West | £195,238 | 1.0% | 1.8% |
| Wales | £193,608 | 0.7% | 2.9% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £193,264 | 0.3% | -0.5% |
| North East | £162,351 | -0.2% | -1.2% |
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 July 2020 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Brent | £696,764 | 1.8% | 19.4% |
| Kingston upon Thames | £625,374 | 4.4% | 9.0% |
| Southwark | £423,442 | -1.98% | -16.3% |
| Hackney | £608,948 | -0.9% | -12.6% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for August 2020 showed a sharp acceleration in house price inflation.
Most surveyors responding to the survey reported strong demand for homes with gardens (83%) over the next two years. The shift of interest to suburban and rural areas was reflected in the low demand for urban properties (-62%) and tower blocks (-75%). Despite an increase in properties coming onto the housing market, strong demand has led to a continued shortage of homes for sale.
House price inflation increased to its strongest level in four years with the exception of London, where house prices have been flat for two months.
Lettings demand has also risen and landlord instructions have seen a modest pick up.
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 October.
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