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 = £250,341, 0.0% change in the month, 8.6% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) 131.3
The strongest house price growth was in the North West, at 11.9% in the year and the weakest in London, at 4.6%.
The RICS said that Covid restrictions were deterring home sellers from putting their homes on the market. The Bank of England suggested that the stamp duty holiday and furlough schemes had helped the housing market.
UK average house price = £254,606, 1.1% in the month, 0.3% up in the quarter, 6.5% in the year. Monthly index (where January 1992 = 100) 439.0
House prices are at a new record high with homes on average £15,430 more expensive than a year ago. The strong market is expected to continue in the next few months, supported by a continued shortage of properties on the housing market. Long term expectations are more cautious and house price growth is expected to slow down by the end of the year.
National average house asking price = £327,797, up 2.1% in the month and 5.1% in the year.
There is still a shortage of newly marketed property. The housing shortage is exacerbated by a shortage of stock and strong interest in homes available, with the number of sales agreed up 55% on figures from two years ago.
Homes are selling faster than ever, in particular semi-detached properties with two or three bedrooms, many of which are selling in under a week.
UK average house price = £232,134, -0.2% change in the month and 5.7% increase in the year.
Government support is helping the housing market but the longer-term outlook once this is withdrawn is less certain.
In the three months to March, London has seen the weakest house price growth of the regions at 4.8%, while the North West was strongest at 8.2% year on year.
Average England and Wales house price = £339,160, 0.7% change in the month, 9.8% in the year.
The average price of a house in England and Wales has increased £30,000 over the last year. However, the average house price has been affecting by a slow down in the higher priced regions and an increase in lower priced regions together with stronger demand for detached and semi-detached properties instead of the cheaper flats and terraced properties. Together, these factors show an average increased house price of 0.7%.
HM Land Registry has issued partial releases of market data since April 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations. Datasets are available.
UK Property Transaction Statistics
The number of residential property transactions over £40,000 was on average between the nations 48.5% higher than a year ago, at 147,050.
Transactions increased by volume 43.7% in Northern Ireland, 35.5% in Scotland, 25.9% in Wales and 28.9% in England in the year to December 2020.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
UK HPI Regional figures
(all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise)
| February 2021 | Average price GBP | % Monthly change | % Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | £268,291 | 0.2% | 8.7% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2020) | £147,593 | 3.0% | 5.3% |
| Scotland | £161,529 | -1.7% | 8.0% |
| Wales | £179,861 | -0.7% | 8.4% |
| East Midlands | £213,967 | 0.8% | 10.6% |
| East of England | £306,346 | -0.9% | 6.0% |
| London | £496,269 | -1.4% | 4.6% |
| North East | £138,370 | -1.6% | 9.0% |
| North West | £184,351 | 1.3% | 11.9% |
| South East | £345,075 | 0.9% | 8.5% |
| South West | £279,242 | 0.0% | 9.0% |
| West Midlands Region | £215,451 | 0.8% | 8.3% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £182,220 | 0.6% | 10.9% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | February 2021 | February 2020 | Difference |
| Detached | £383,088 | £351,042 | 9.1% |
| Semi-detached | £239,307 | £219,734 | 8.9% |
| Terraced | £204,418 | £187,607 | 9.0% |
| Flat or maisonette | £214,114 | £200,659 | 6.7% |
| All | £250,341 | £230,609 | 8.6% |
Rightmove regional figures
| April 2021 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| London | £635,306 | 1.7% | 1.4% |
| South East | £433,481 | 3.0% | 5.8% |
| South West | £334,807 | 3.6% | 6.9% |
| East of England | £375,505 | 1.1% | 5.1% |
| West Midlands | £249,200 | 2.8% | 6.5% |
| East Midlands | £248,869 | 2.5% | 6.8% |
| North West | £218,859 | 2.2% | 9.0% |
| Wales | £220,774 | 2.6% | 12.2% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £214,045 | 4.2% | 9.4% |
| North East | £161,994 | 1.5% | 6.1% |
Nationwide regional figures
| Q1: 3 months to March 2021 | Average House Price (£) GBP | Annual % change (this quarter) | Annual % change (previous quarter) |
| N Ireland | £154,012 | 7.4% | 5.9% |
| North West | £181,999 | 8.2% | 8.0% |
| East Midlands | £200,307 | 6.0% | 8.6% |
| West Midlands | £208,806 | 7.6% | 7.5% |
| Scotland | £159,221 | 6.9% | 3.2% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £175,577 | 7.0% | 7.7% |
| East Anglia | £242,789 | 6.1% | 6.4% |
| Wales | £174,777 | 7.2% | 6.6% |
| North | £138,348 | 7.2% | 6.5% |
| South West | £263,033 | 7.2% | 6.6% |
| Outer South East | £298,804 | 7.2% | 8.0% |
| Outer Met | £379,058 | 5.6% | 5.6% |
| London | £482,576 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| UK | £231,644 | 6.3% | 6.4% |
LSL Acadata Regional Data
| February 2021 | Average House Price £ GBP | Monthly % change | Annual % Change Greater |
| Greater London | £662,343 | 1.7% | 3.7% |
| South East | £425,023 | 0.9% | 8.4% |
| South West | £342,436 | 1.0% | 14.8% |
| East of England | £364,879 | 1.1% | 7.6% |
| West Midlands | £263,181 | 1.4% | 10.7% |
| East Midlands | £256,214 | 1.6% | 11.8% |
| North West | £231,309 | 1.2% | 12.6% |
| Wales | £217,419 | 1.2% | 12.6% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £225,902 | 1.4% | 11.3% |
| North East | £186,959 | 2.0% | 9.8% |
Focus on London
Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:
| Rightmove April2021 |
Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Croydon | £436,485 | 1.9% | 6.6% |
| Barking and Dagenham | £457,796 | 1.4% | 6.1% |
| Camden | £734,547 | -1.3% | -6.3% |
| Westminster | £1,295,706 | 1.8% | -13.2% |
| LCL Acadata February 2021 |
Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Haringey | £734,989 | 1.5% | 15.6% |
| Brent | £661,012 | 2.9% | 15.2% |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | £884,214 | 1.2% | -15.1% |
| Westminster | £1,350,394 | 2.3% | -24.7% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for March 2021 reported renewed near-term strength in the housing market, with a high level of buying enquiries and agreed sales, helped largely by the stamp duty holiday.
New instructions are slowly increasing and demand remains strong with the market in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber at the highest level of the English regions.
Tenant demand is still strong and landlord instructions continue to fall. Rental growth over the next twelve months is expected to be almost 3% nationally except London where the market is flat or slightly negative.
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 will be updated next month.
SH/LCB