Welcome to the March 2020 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 = £231,185, -1.1% change in the month, 1.3% up in the year. Monthly index (where January 2015 = 100) is 121.3
January saw a pick up in the number of monthly buyer enquiries together with an increase in the number of residential property transactions from a year ago. Mortgage approvals were at the highest level since February 2016.
Halifax
UK average house price = £240,677, up 0.3% in the month, 2.9% in the quarter, 2.8% in the year.
A steady move into spring reflecting a sustained number of buyers and seller activity with a competitive mortgage market. Coronavirus will potentially impact the market, which is causing economic pressures on the economy, although its affects on the housing market will be better known later in the year.
England and Wales average house asking price = £312,625, up 3.5% in the year.
The post-election boost has led to strong buyer demand and the lack of supply leading to record house prices. Agreed sales up by 17.8%, the highest level in March since 2016. Homes nationally selling 6% more quickly and 18% faster in London. Any effects of coronovirus are likely to be felt later in the year.
UK average house price = £216,092, 0.3% change in the month and 2.3% increase in the year.
Annual house price growth of 2.3% is the strongest rate for 18 months.
The value of property now accounts for more than a third of the average household’s net wealth, just behind private pension wealth. 12% of households have ‘additional property wealth’, such as buy-to-let property (owned by 1.4 million households) or second homes (owned by almost one million households).
Average England and Wales house price = £303,189, 0.5% change in the month, 1.0% in the year.
Every month since August has recorded a rise in house prices, and 21 of the 33 London boroughs have seen house prices increase over the last twelve months.
HM Revenue & Customs
The provisional number of UK residential property transaction completions (over £40,000) for February 2020 was 103,870, representing a seasonally adjusted increase of 6.0% in February 2019, and 4.5% higher than January 2020.
The number of non-residential property transactions increased by 14.1% in January 2020, and 8.4% higher than February 2019.
Land Registry Price Paid Data
Overall 95,500 residential sales were received for registration in January. The most expensive residential property sale was in Barnet, London, which sold for £23,500,000. There were 440 residential property sales valued at £1m or more in England and Wales, 259 of which were in Greater London.
The cheapest residential sale was a property in Burnley, Lancashire, which sold for £180,000.
Newly built property sales decreased by -26.4% compared to January 2019.
REGIONAL HOUSE PRICES
| UK HPI Regional figures (all percentages are positive unless indicated otherwise) | |||
| January 2020 | Average price GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| England | £247,355 | -1.2% | 1.1% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 – 2019) | £140,190 | 0.2% | 2.5% |
| Scotland | £152,121 | 0.6% | 1.6% |
| Wales | £161,719 | -2.9% | 2.0% |
| East Midlands | £195,707 | -0.4% | 2.3% |
| East of England | £286,999 | -2.2% | -0.6% |
| London | £476,588 | -1.1% | 1.4% |
| North East | £126,592 | -2.6% | 0.9% |
| North West | £164,769 | -1.5% | 2.1% |
| South East | £320,700 | -1.2% | -0.5% |
| South West | £254,320 | -1.8% | -0.1% |
| West Midlands Region | £200,628 | 0.4% | 2.6% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £165,383 | -0.9% | 3.1% |
UK HPI Average monthly price by property type
| Property type | January 2020 GBP | January 2019 GBP | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £347,990 | £349,197 | -0.3% |
| Semi-detached | £222,604 | £216,342 | 2.9% |
| Terraced | £188,303 | £183,361 | 2.7% |
| Flat or maisonette | £200,721 | £202,876 | -1.1% |
| All | £231,185 | £228,314 | 1.3% |
Rightmove regional figures
| March 2020 | Average price GBP | Monthly change % | Annual change % |
| Greater London | £638,826 | 1.6% | 5.1% |
| South East | £408,796 | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| South West | £313,127 | 1.6% | 3.5% |
| East of England | £408,796 | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| West Midlands | £233,224 | 0.6% | 3.2% |
| East Midlands | £230,783 | 0.7% | 2.7% |
| North West | £201,199 | 0.1% | 2.5% |
| Wales | £199,249 | -0.2% | 2.3% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | £196,002 | -0.7% | 3.1% |
| North East | £153,694 | 1.6% | 2.9% |
Nationwide regional figures
| Q3: 3 months to September 2019 | Average Price (£) GBP | Annual % change (this quarter) | Annual % change (previous quarter) |
| N Ireland | £144,053 | 3.4% | 5.2% |
| North West | 166,597 | 2.5% | 1.2% |
| East Midlands | £187,212 | 0.4% | 2.0% |
| West Midlands | £194,549 | 2.1% | 2.6% |
| Scotland | £150,410 | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £160,432 | 0.1% | 3.0% |
| East Anglia | £232,587 | 1.7% | 1.4% |
| Wales | £159,355 | 2.9% | 4.2% |
| North | £127,570 | 2.0% | 1.8% |
| South West | £246,658 | 0.5% | 1.1% |
| Outer South East | £278,134 | -0.6% | -1.6% |
| Outer Met | £358,833 | -1.5% | -1.8% |
| London | £460,686 | -1.7% | -0.7% |
| UK | £216,805 | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| LSL Acadata Regional Data – January 2020 | Average House Price £ GBP | Monthly % change | Annual % Change |
| Greater London | £623,615 | 0.8% | 2.8% |
| South East | £379,689 | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| South West | £291,665 | 0.0% | 0.9% |
| East of England | £325,955 | -0.5% | -2.1% |
| West Midlands | £229,390 | -0.1% | -0.7% |
| East Midlands | £222,761 | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| North West | £196,055 | 0.2% | 2.1% |
| Wales | £193,263 | -0.2% | 3.2% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £199,731 | 0.4% | 2.3% |
| North East | £165,030 | -0.4% | 1.0% |
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 January 2020 | Average Price (£) GBP | Monthly change | Annual change |
| Hackney | £687,102 | -1.5% | 14.6% |
| City of Westminster | £1,823,185 | 1.3% | 8.1% |
| Newham | £399,100 | -2.0% | -8.7% |
| Southwark | £595,263 | 1.2% | -25.0% |
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for February 2019 reported a third successive month of increases in demand, sales and instructions. There were generally positive sales expectations amongst those surveyed, although less so than in January.
Concerns were being raised over the effects of coronavirus on the housing market.
Tenant demand rose, also for the third consecutive month. However, landlord instructions yet again fell, a trend that has continued since 2016. The resultant increases in rent are projected to be around 2% over the next twelve months, and around 3% per annum for the next five years.
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 April.
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