August 2019 Property Surveying market fact file

Welcome to the August 2019 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 = £230,292,  0.7% change in the month, 0.9% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 120.8

The weak housing market is showing some signs of stabilising. Households expected a decline in house prices over the next 12 months and 20% had delayed moving due to Brexit uncertainty. The number of mortgage approvals increased in June and remain roughly as previous years.

Halifax
UK average house price = £236,120, down -0.2% in the month, up 0.4% in the quarter, 4.1% in the year.

Average house prices fell for the second month, although the overall trend is comparatively stable, with average prices down less than £600 over three months. Fewer properties have been sold during the summer months although new buyer enquiries increased and continue to support house prices.

Rightmove
England and Wales average house asking price = £305,500, down -1.0% in the month up 1.2% in the year.

Despite a seasonal monthly fall in house prices, performance was better than usual in August. Improved affordability had encourage home buyers who were looking to buy property prior to the Brexit deadline.

All regions saw a year-on-year increase with rises over 10% in the North East, East of England and Yorkshire & Humber.

Nationwide
UK average house price = £217,663, 0.3% change in the month and up 0.3% in the year.

House prices growth has stayed below 1% for eight successive months. New buyer enquiries had increased, according to surveyors, although confidence was subdued.

Recent years have seen around 5% of homes changing hands in the UK which is higher than the turnover rate in 2009 but well below the 8% recorded pre-financial crisis.

LSL / Acadata
Average England and Wales house price = £300,886,  up 0.2% in the month, up 0.7% in the year.

London and the South East no longer appears to be acting as a drag on national figures as has been the case over the two years to June 2019.

A noticeable north-south divide shows more northern regions with higher rates of transaction growth than the last two years, in particular the North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber.

HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for June 2019 was 84,490, representing a decrease of -9.6% between May-June 2019, and the seasonally adjusted figure is -16.5% lower than June 2018.

The number of non-residential property transactions decreased by -7.2% between May-June 2019. This is -12.4% lower than June 2018.

Land Registry Price Paid Data
Overall 81,742 residential sales were received for registration in June. The most expensive residential property sale was in the Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, London, which sold for £25,975,000. There were 424 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 236 of which were in Greater London.

The cheapest residential sales were properties in Burnley, Bishop Auckland, Ferryhill and Sunderland, which sold for £20,000.

The sale of newly built sales represented an increase of 25.4% on June 2018.

REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES

UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise)
June 2019 Average price GBP Monthly change Annual change
England £246,728 0.7% 0.7%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 2 – 2019) £136,767 0.8% 3.5%
Scotland £151,891 0.7% 1.3%
Wales £163,768 1.2% 4.4%
East Midlands £195,344 1.6% 3.2%
East of England £291,370 0.5% 0.7%
London £466,824 0.7% -2.7%
North East £130,342 1.7% 1.8%
North West £164,116 0.2% 2.4%
South East £322,866 1.1% -0.6%
South West £252,122 -0.4% -0.2%
West Midlands £198,993 0.9% 2.6%
Yorkshire and The Humber £161,997 0.6% 0.9%

UK HPI Average monthly price by property type

Property type June 2019 GBP June 2018 GBP Difference
Detached £349,879 £343,969 1.7%
Semi-detached £219,752 £215,660 1.9%
Terraced £187,082 £184,595 1.3%
Flat or maisonette £200,699 £204,732 -2.0%
All £230,292 £228,190 0.9%

Rightmove regional figures

August 2019 Average price GBP Monthly change % Annual change %
Greater London 617,208 -0.1 1.3
South East 401,198 -2.1 -0.3
South West 306,935 -1.7 -0.1
East of England 352,087 -0.6 0.0
West Midlands 228,839 -0.7 1.5
East Midlands 227,383 -0.1 1.9
North West 199,456 -0.4 4.0
Wales 201,221 0.3 2.5
Yorkshire & Humberside 195,380 0.7 3.4
North East 152,658 -0.3 2.5

Nationwide regional figures

Q2: 3 months to June 2019 Average Price (£) GBP Annual % change (this quarter) Annual % change (previous quarter)
N Ireland £143,343 5.2% 3.3%
North West £162,410 1.2% 2.9%
East Midlands £185,123 2.0% 2.6%
West Midlands £193,454 2.6% 2.5%
Scotland £148,783 0.4% 2.4%
Yorkshire & Humber £159,780 3.0% 2.1%
East Anglia £229,022 1.4% 1.7%
Wales £160,407 4.2% 0.9%
North £129,557 1.8% 0.8%
South West £245,767 1.1% 0.5%
Outer South East £277,227 -1.6% -1.1%
Outer Met £358,850 -1.8% -2.0%
London £465,722 -0.7% -3.8%
UK £215,910 0/6% 0.4%

Focus on London - Best and Worst (-) annual performers according to:

Rightmove August 2019 Average Price (£) GBP Monthly change Annual change
Southwark 649,041 0.8% 2.0%
Newham 419,129 0.6% 1.6%
Tower Hamlets 566,845 1.3% -5.2%
Merton 596,646 -2.6% -7.2%
LCL Acadata July 2019 Average Price (£) GBP Monthly change Annual change
Kensington & Chelsea 2,132,609 2.2% 10.8%
Camden 1,093,379 4.9% 7.0%
Wandsworth 669,585 -2.5% -12.6%
Lambeth 549,048 -1.0% -16.2%

RICS Survey Overview

The RICS Residential Market Survey for July 2019 reported a slight downturn in near term expectations although there was an increase in the number of buyer enquiries for the second consecutive month.

Surveyors reported house price growth in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in contrast to falling prices in London, the South East and East Anglia.

Landlord instructions fell for the thirteenth consecutive quarter while tenant demand picked up to its strongest level since the end of 2016. Near term rental growth expectation was at its most optimistic for twelve quarters.

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 September.

Back to August 2019 Newsletter

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