Bank Lending Rate
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has confirmed that the Bank Base Rate is to remain at 0.5% for a further month. It has been at this very low level for five years – a record period.
Source: Bank of England
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HOUSE PRICE INDICES – some show actual prices and others show asking prices.
This month the average house price in England ranges from 168k (Land Registry) to 250k (Office for National Statistics). All indices show an increase in the month, and over the past year.
ONS House Price Index figures.
Figures for the year to December 2013, published by the Office for National Statistics on 18th February 2014, show that house prices increased by 5.5% over the year, to an average of £250k. Excluding London, the average is £195k.
First-time buyers’s average house price paid in December was £189k. Over the year, this is an increase of 7.4%. Existing owners paid an average of £286k in December, an increase of 4.7% over the year.
The average price paid for a new-build dwelling was £236k in December, which is much the same as last December. The average price paid for a pre-owned building was £251k, which is 5.8% higher than the previous year.
Source: ONS
Land Registry’s Property Prices in England and Wales
The Average price of a property in England and Wales is now £168,356 as at the end of January 2014, according to the report published on 28th February 2014.
The Monthly change in January in England and Wales was a 1.0% rise.
The Annual change to end of January in England and Wales was a rise of 4.2%.
Source: Land Registry
Halifax House Price Index – February figures.
The average price of a house by the end of February 2014 was £179,872, according to the Halifax House Price Index published 6th March 2014. House prices in February were 2.4% higher than in January, and the quarterly figure was up by 2.1%. The seasonally adjusted figures show that house prices are 7.9% higher than at this time last year, measured by the average for the latest quarter against the same period a year earlier.
Source: Halifax
Nationwide House Price Index figures
Nationwide House Price Index figures published on 28th February 2014 showed that the average cost of a home in the UK, after seasonal adjustment, was £177,846 during the month of February. This is an increase from January of 0.6%, and an annual rise of 9.4%.
Source: Nationwide
Rightmove House Price Index figures
Rightmove’s February survey (published 17th February 2014) shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period from 12th January to 8th February 2014 was £251,964, a rise of 3.3% on the previous month. House asking prices are 6.9% higher than a year ago.
Source: Rightmove
Acadata House Price Index figures
LSL Property Services/Acadata January figures, published 14th February 2014, show that the average house price in England and Wales was £241,101 in the month. This is only a 0.6% increase from December, but a 5.2% rise since last January.
Source: Acadata Ltd
Land Registry figures including Repossessions.
The headline figures in the January 2014 report are altered when repossession data is included – the average house price in January is then £167,100: 0.8% up on December 2013 and 5.1% up on January 2013.
In the months from August to November, the number of repossessions averaged 1,187 per month. In the same period last year, the average was 1,596 per month.
There was a total reduction in the number of repossession sales over the year to November 2013 of 33% – 1,722 to 1,162. Regional analysis shows that at the extremes, the East Midlands had 18% fewer repossession sales compared to last November, whereas East Anglia had 56% fewer.
Source: Land Registry
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HOUSE PRICES ANALYSED REGIONALLY ACROSS ENGLAND AND WALES
Greater London and the South East consistently performing better than other regions.
ONS House Price Index regional figures.
The average house price in England in December 2013 was £260k, £167k in Wales, £135k in Northern Ireland and £182k in Scotland.
Property prices in England are now 2.8% higher than they were prior to the peak in January 2008. Wales’ average prices are still 3.6% lower than Jan 08, Scotland’s are 6.5% lower, but Northern Ireland’s are 48% lower.
Over the year to December 2013, England’s rise was 5.7% and Wales’ by 4.8%.
Northern Ireland’s also rose by 4.8% but Scotland’s rose by only 0.5%.
Splitting England into regions, London’s prices rose by 12.3% over the year, while the East and the West Midlands regions rose by 4.6% and 4.3% respectively. The smallest rise was 1.8% in Yorkshire & Humberside.
Source: ONS
Regional trends in Rightmove Estate Agents Asking House Prices in England and Wales.
Rightmove’s February survey shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period 11th January to 8th February 2014 as £251,964.
There were no regions with decreases over this period nor over the year.
The largest monthly increase was in the North West, where asking prices rose by 5.3% over the period from £155,730 to £163,952. The annual change there was a rise of 4.6%.
The smallest monthly increase was in the Yorkshire & Humberside region. Average prices there rose by 0.1%, from £155,371 to £155,569. The annual change there was 4.1%.
The largest annual rise was Greater London, where prices rose by 11.2% over the year from £486,890 to an average of £541,313. The monthly increase was 5.2%.
The smallest annual rise was in the North, where the average price rose by only 0.1% from £142,168 to £142,372. The monthly increase here was 4.1%.
Source: Rightmove
Regional Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices in England and Wales.
The Land Registry’s January survey shows the prices of a typical UK property per region as follows:
The largest monthly increase was in the North East, which saw an increase over the month of 2.6%, bringing the average house price in the region to £98,292. This is 1.9% higher than this time last year.
The largest monthly decrease in price was once again in Yorkshire & Humberside, where the average price fell 1.4% to £114,910, although this is 0.3% higher than a year ago – the lowest annual rise.
The largest annual rise was in London, where prices rose by 10.9% over the year, and 2.1% over the month.
Source: Land Registry
Analysis of Acadata HPI by region
The latest figures show that by December 2013, all of the ten regions specified had an increase in house prices annually, but three had decreases in the month.
The largest rise in the month was Greater London – up 0.9% to an average of £477,157. The annual rise here was 10.6%, which is the largest of all the annual rises.
The East Midlands saw the largest monthly fall – a 0.2% decrease to £165,856. However, this is 3.0% higher than last year.
West Midlands and the North saw no change in average prices over the month.
The North saw the smallest annual rise in average house prices of 1.4% to £142,615.
Source: Acadata
Halifax House Price Index – quarterly figures by region.
The standardised average price of a house at the end of 2013 was £173,685, according to the Halifax House Price Index. Regionally this varies from an average of £310,113 in Greater London to £102,725 in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland’s prices rose by 10.5% over the last quarter of 2013, compared to the North, where prices fell by 4.1% over the period to £123,385.
Annually, Scotland’s prices fell by 0.4% to £117,045, the only region to see a fall over the year. The largest rises were Greater London’s rise by 15.4%, Wales’ by 13.8% (to £150,239) and the North West’s by 10.6% (to £132,568).
Source: Halifax
Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices in England and Wales by County/Unitary authority.
The Land Registry’s January survey shows the prices of a typical UK property per county or unitary authority as follows:
The greatest monthly price increase is Greater London, where the average price is up by 2.1% to £409,881. This is 10.9% higher than last year – the largest annual rise..
The greatest monthly decrease in price was Stockton-on-Tees, where prices fell by 1.7% to an average of £105,467. This is 1.7% lower than last year.
The largest annual fall was in Swansea, where prices fell by 6.2% to £104,955. However, this is 0.2% higher than December.
Five counties / authorities saw no price movement in the month.
Source: Land Registry
Analysis of Acadata HPI data by County/Unitary Authority
The unitary authority with the largest increase in house prices in December 2013 was Poole, where average prices rose by 5.1% to £315,053. The annual change there was a rise of 16.3% – the largest of the annual increases.
Next is Gwynedd, where prices rose by 3.2% in the month (11.2% annual rise) to an average of £163,785.
Cambridgeshire saw the largest decrease in average prices in the month – down 2.1% to £246,180. The annual change was a rise of 1.1%.
The largest annual decrease was once again Flintshire, where prices fell by 6.3% to £154,003. However, there was a rise of 1.7% over the month.
Source: Acadata
Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices by Metropolitan District.
The Land Registry’s January survey shows the average prices of property by Metropolitan District as follows:
The greatest monthly price increase was in Dudley, where the average price was up by 2.2% to £122,025. This is 4.6% higher than last year.
The greatest monthly decrease in price was in South Tyneside, where prices fell by 2.7% to an average of £92,484. This is 3.0% lower than last year.
The largest annual rise is in Oldham, where prices rose by 7.6% to an average of £81,501. This is 0.6% higher than last month.
The largest annual fall was in Knowsley - average prices fell by 4.0% over the year to £96,346. However, this is 0.6% higher than last year.
Source: Land Registry
Rightmove’s analysis of asking prices by London Borough.
In the period from 12th January to 8th February 2014, the largest increase in asking prices was in Greenwich, where they rose by 8.2% to an average of £324,213. The annual rise was 8.8%.
The smallest increase in asking prices was in Merton, where they rose by 1.7% in the month to £535,231. They rose by 12.1% over the year.
The largest increase was in Tower Hamlets, where prices rose by 29.7% over the year, to an average of £545,773. The monthly increase here was 2.6%.
Once again, Haringey saw the largest annual decrease, where average asking prices fell by 7.9% over the year to £545,638. However, the monthly change there was a rise of 5.4%.
The only other borough to see an annual decrease was Kensington & Chelsea, where prices fell by 0.4% to £2,170,691, which is 5.7% higher than last month.
Source: Rightmove
Acadata data analysed by London Borough
Over the month to December 2013, overall house prices in London increased by 0.9%. Over the year, the change is a 10.6% rise.
Kensington & Chelsea had the largest monthly rise: up 4.9% to £1,660,918. The annual rise here was 15.3%. This is the borough with the most expensive average property prices.
At the other end of the scale, Hounslow saw the greatest fall in prices in the month: down 5.6% to £408,000. However, the annual change was a rise of 14.2%.
Havering was the only borough to experience no change this month.
Comparing December 2012 to December 2013, Lambeth saw the greatest increase: up 24.8% to £490,037, although the monthly change here was a drop of 0.2%.
The only borough to see a decrease in prices over the year was City of Westminster, where prices fell by 3.1% to £1,142,306. This was a drop over the month of 2.6%.
Barking & Dagenham remains the cheapest borough in terms of house prices at an average of £193,818, although this is 2.7% higher than November, and 4.6% higher than last year.
Source: Acadata
Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices in Greater London.
The Land Registry’s January survey shows the average prices of property per London Borough as follows:
The greatest monthly price increase is once again in Hackney - the borough saw a rise of 2.9% in January. The average price is now £526,361, which is 20.4% higher than last year – the highest annual rise of all the boroughs.
There was only one decrease in price either monthly nor annually – the City of Westminster saw a fall of 0.1% in the month to £862,053, although this is 13.1% higher than last January.
Source: Land Registry
RICS Survey Overview.
The RICS Residential Market Survey for January 2014 (published 13th February 2014) says that “Buyer enquiries are continuing to be supported by the more favourable credit conditions which are resulting in a much improved environment for the supply of mortgage finance.“.
Once again, London and the South East saw the largest price rises over the month, and the North saw the smallest rise in prices.
The North and Wales had the highest level of agreed sales in January, with every area seeing a rise, although London and East Anglia were the lowest.
Wales had the highest level of new buyer enquiries in the month, followed closely by the the North West and the North. All regions saw a rise in this indicator, but Yorkshire & Humberside’s was the smallest.
The highest levels of new vendor instructions were in the North and Wales. London and Yorkshire & Humberside saw the largest decreases in the month.
Source: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
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PROPERTY TYPES – The prices of all types of property are rising, with mixed results between the indices published. Detached properties are consistently higher than the average. and all other types are below it. Rightmove’s and Land Registry’s figures are monthly and Halifax’s figures are quarterly.
Rightmove’s Asking Prices by Property Type
In the year to 8th February 2014, the average change over all property types was an increase of 6.9% to £251,964. All types of property (which Rightmove classify) are higher than last year.
- Flats’ and Apartments’ asking prices rose by 8.5% to £221,492.
- Terraced properties’ prices rose by 7.9% to £200,764.
- Detached property asking prices rose by 6.3% to £368,622.
- Semi-Detached properties’ prices rose by 6.4% to £213,021.
Source: Rightmove
Land Registry’s Average Prices by Property Type
The Land Registry’s January average price figures analysed by property type show that the prices over all types of property rose by 4.2% in the year to end January 2014. The average price is now £168,356.
- Flats & Maisonette properties rose by 4.2% to £160,152
- Terraced properties rose by 3.6% to £125,901
- Detached properties rose by 4.6% to £267,590
- Semi-detached properties rose by 4.2% to £159,855.
Source: Land Registry
Halifax’s Average Prices by Property Type
The Halifax quarterly average price figures analysed by property type show that across the UK, the prices over all types of property rose by 0.36% in the last quarter of 2013. The average price is now £203,357. However, this is 15.3% higher than Q4 2013.
Over the quarter:
- Flats & Maisonette properties rose by 0.26% to £195,271
- Terraced properties rose by 0.86% to £172,966
- Semi-detached properties rose by 0.07% to £183,001.
- Bungalows fell by 0.33% to £199,217
- Detached properties rose by 1.42% to £305,391
Source: Halifax
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MORTGAGE FIGURES
New Mortgages granted –December Actual Figures
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that 58,200 loans were made in December for house purchase, worth £9.3 billion. This is lower than November in number by 0.7% but greater in value by 1.1%. However, these figures are up 26.5% and 34.8% (respectively) than last December’s figures.
Of these, first-time buyer loans totalled 26,700, valued at £3.7 billion, which is up by 1.1% in number and 2.8% in value on last month. However, this is 36.9% higher in number and 48.0% higher in value, compared to last December’s figures.
Home movers’ loans totalled £5.6 billion, and numbered 31,500. These figures are 2.2% lower than November’s in terms of number, and the same in value. These figures are up 18.9% in number and 27.3% in value on last December.
The number and value of remortgage loans also fell in the month – 25,300 loans worth £3.8 billion were made in December. These figures are 10% lower than last month’s in terms of volume and in value. However, this was a rise of 16% in number, and a rise of 31% in value over the year.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
New Mortgages granted – January Estimates
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that January’s estimated figure for gross mortgage lending in the UK is £15.5 billion. This is lower by 8% on December’s figure, but a rise of a third on last January’s £11.6 billion.
CML chief economist Bob Pannell said “Monthly approvals for house purchase averaged 70,000 in the final quarter of 2013, the strongest for six years”.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
Buy-to-Let Mortgages
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that during December 2013, the total advanced on buy-to-let mortgages was £1.9 billion (14,500 loans). This is lower than November by 9.9% in number and by 9.5% in value.
Just under half of the buy-to-let loans were for remortgage: 7,060 loans worth £1.0 billion – an decrease of 10.4% in number, and of 9.1% in value on the previous month.
Loans for house purchase totalled 7,280 loans worth £840 million, a fall of 10.0% in number and of 9.7% in value as November.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
Mortgage Arrears and Homes Repossessions
The number of UK mortgages in arrears has fallen slightly to 1.29% of all mortgages.
By the end of 2013, 149,400 mortgages were in arrears, i.e. behind by more than 2.5% of the mortgage balance. By comparison, 1.40% of mortgages were in arrears in 2012, down from its peak of 1.88% in Q2 2009.
The number of repossessions in 2013 was 28,900 – 0.26% of outstanding mortgages – the lowest it has been for several years. In 2012, the rate was 0.30%, numbering 33,900, and at its peak of 2009, the rate was 0.43% (48,900 repossessions).
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
New Mortgages granted – 2013 Actual Figures
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that 605,100 loans were made in 2013 for house purchase, worth £93.7 billion. This is higher than 2012 by 11.2% in number and 15.0% in value. Remortgage loans numbered 321,900, worth £44.7 billion. This is greater by 2.1% in number and 8.5% in value on 2012 figures.
Loans to first-time buyers in 2013 numbered 268,800, with a value of £36.1 billion. These figures are 23.3% higher in number and 31.3% in value on last year’s figures.
Home-movers’ loans numbered 336,200 in 2013, withg a value of £57.6 billion. This is 3.0% higher in number and 7.1% higher in value than the previous year.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
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TRANSACTION VOLUMES & OTHER FIGURES
Latest Property Sales Volumes by price range
According to the Land Registry’s January Report, in November 2013, 78,358 sales transactions took place in England and Wales, and 10,362 in London. This represents a rise of 23% in England & Wales, and of 20% in London since last November’s figures, (63,953 and 8,624 respectively).
Compared to last November, in the price bracket of over £1 million, the sales volume in London increased from 446 to 660 – a rise of 48%, and in England & Wales it increased from 677 to 985 – a rise of 45%.
At the other end of the market (up to £250k), the volume rose by 20.1% in England & Wales (from 47,074 last November to 56,534 this November), and it rose by 3.4% in London (from 3,366 to 3,480).
Source: Land Registry
Land Registry Quarterly Sales Volumes
In the quarter from August to November 2013 (the latest for which figures are available), the average number of property transactions per month was 75,114. This is up 24.6% on the same period a year ago, when the average was 60,272 sales per month.
Source: Land Registry
Hometrack Monthly House Price Survey Figures
February’s survey (published 3rd March 2014) shows that house prices increased by 0.7% in the month.
The average amount of time that a house is on the market has remained at 8.0 weeks fo the third consecutive month. Regionally, this ranges from 2.7 weeks in London to 15.1 weeks in Wales.
On average, 95.8% of the asking price is achieved, ranging from 98.8% in Greater London, down to 93.5% in both Wales and the East Midlands.
51.1% of postcode districts reported a price increase in February, much higher than January’s 29.7% and December’s 38.9%. Only 0.4% had a price decrease over the month, down from January’s 5.3% and December’s 3.9%.
Source: Hometrack
English Housing Survey Bulletin
The latest report, published 28th February, analysed England’s Housing Stock in 2012. Of the estimated 22.7 million dwellings, 18.9 million are privately owned (including 4.1 million rented out), and the other 3.8 million are in the social sector – 1.8 million are Local Authority and the others are Housing Association.
80% of all dwellings are houses (which includes bungalows but not flats), although in the owner-occupied sector, this rises to 92%. Only 61% of privately rented properties are ‘houses’, mostly terraced.
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government
Home Builders Federation figures
Home Builders Federation’s latest Housing Pipeline Report (Q4 2013 published 26th February 2014) states that the number of planning approvals granted in Great Britain in the last quarter of 2013 was 57,678 residential units. This is 18% more than the previous quarter, and 13% more than Q4 last year.
In Great Britain, Social Housing approvals numbered 8,518, a rise of 20% on the previous quarter and on the same quarter last year. Regionally, the South West saw the largest increase: 1,148 was 238% up on Q3, and 260% up on Q4 last year.
The East Midlands saw an increase in social housing approvals of 222% on last quarter and 331% on last year. The West Midlands, however, saw a drop of 70% on last quarter, and a drop of 52% over the year.
In 2013 as a whole, 191,940 new building planning approvals were made, up 22% more than in 2012. Regionally, that is 59% higher in the Midlands, but 12% lower in Scotland.
Source: www.house-builder.co.uk
Latest House Building Figures – 2013
Latest estimates show that 32,320 house building starts were made in the last quarter of 2013, which is a drop of 1% on the previous quarter, but a rise of 23% on the same quarter 2012. 28,510 completions were made in Q4 2013, 1% less than Q3, but 6% higher than Q4 2012.
In 2013, 122,590 new homes were started, which is 23% higher than in 2012. However, 109,370 houses were completed, which is 5% lower than last year.
Source: DCLG
Next Monthly Market Fact File due in April 2014.