Bank Lending Rate
It has been confirmed that the Bank of England Monetary Committee have decided that the Bank Base Rate is to remain at 0.5% for a further month. It has been at this very low level for a record period of 4 years (since March 2009).
Source: Bank of England
ONS House Price Index figures.
Figures for the year to March 2013, published by the Office for National Statistics on 21st May 2013, show that house prices increased by 2.7% over the year, to an average of £235k..
The average house price in England in March 2013 was £244k, £157k in Wales, £130k in Northern Ireland and £178k in Scotland.
Over the year to March 2013, England’s rise was 3.0% and Wales’ was 1.2%. Scotland’s fell by 1.7% and Northern Ireland’s figure fell by 2.0% over the year. (House prices in Northern Ireland have fallen every year for 5 years.)
Splitting England into regions, London’s prices rose over the year by 7.6%, followed by the South East which rose by 3.3%. However, prices fell in Yorkshire & The Humber by 1.3%. Prices in the North West were unchanged.
First-time buyers’s average house price paid in March was £175k. Over the year, this is an increase of 1.3%. Existing owners paid an average of £270k in March, an increase of 3.2% over the year.
The average price paid for a new-build dwelling was £230k in March, which is 1.0% higher than last March. The average price paid for a pre-owned building was £235k, which is 2.8% 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 £161,458 as at the end of April 2013, according to the report published on 30th May 2013.
The Monthly change in March in England and Wales was a 0.4% rise.
The Annual change to March in England and Wales was a rise of 0.7%.
Source: Land Registry
Halifax House Price Index figures.
The average price of a house by the end of April 2013 was £166,094, according to the Halifax House Price Index published 8th May 2013. House prices in April were 1.1% higher than in March, and the quarterly figure was up by 1.3%. The seasonally adjusted figures show that house prices are 2.0% 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 30th May 2013 showed that the average cost of a home in the UK was £167,912 during the month of May. After seasonal adjustment, this is a slight change from April (a rise of 0.4%), and the annual rate is a 1.1% rise.
Source: Nationwide
Rightmove House Price Index figures
Rightmove’s May survey (published 20th May 2013) shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period from 7th April to 11th May 2013 was £249,841, an increase of 2.1% on the previous month. House asking prices are 2.5% higher than a year ago.
Source: Rightmove
Acadametrics House Price Index figures
LSL Property Services/Acadametrics’ April figures, published 10th May 2013, show that the average house price in England and Wales was £231,170 in April. This is only a 0.3% increase from March, but a 3.0% rise since last April.
Source: Acadametrics Ltd
RICS Survey Overview
The RICS Residential Market Survey for April 2013 (published 14th May 2013) says that “Sales and price expectations suggest greater optimismâ€, and that “New buyer enquiries increase at the fastest rate in more than three years”.
London and the South East saw the largest price rises, whereas the North saw the largest fall in house prices in the month.
Wales had the highest level of agreed sales in April, with every area seeing a rise.
Wales also had the highest level of new buyer enquiries in the month, while in East Anglia, levels fell – the only area to see a drop.
The highest levels of new vendor instructions were in the North and the North West, and the lowest by far was London, followed by the East Midlands.
Source: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
New Mortgages granted – March Actual Figures
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that 42,300 loans were made in March for house purchase, worth £6.2 billion. This is higher than February both in number (14.8.8%), and in value (17.0%). However, these figures are down 19.2% and 17.3% (respectively) than last March’s figures.
Of these, first-time buyer loans totalled 19,100, valued at £2.4 billion, which is up 20.1% in number and 20% in value on last month. This is 21.7% lower in number and 22.6% lower in value, compared to last March’s figures.
Home movers’ loans totalled £22.9 billion, and numbered 3,800. These figures are 10.6% higher than February’s in terms of number, and 11.8% higher in value. These figures are down 17.3% in number and 13.6% in value on last March.
The number and value of remortgage loans fell in the month – 23,300 loans worth £3.1 billion in March. These figures are 14.2% higher than last month’s in terms of volume and 14.8% higher in value. This is a decrease of 18.5% in number and 13.9% by value over the year.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
New Mortgages granted – April Estimates
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that April’s estimated figure for gross mortgage lending in the UK is £12.1 billion. This is a rise of 4% on March’s £11.6 billion, and a rise of 21% from last April’s figure, although the CML cautions that this is not a meaningful comparison.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
Regional trends in Rightmove Estate Agents Asking House Prices in England and Wales.
Rightmove’s May survey shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period from 7th April to 11th May 2013 increased in all ten of the identified areas of England and Wales.
The largest monthly increase was in the North where asking prices rose by 4.2% over the month from £146,507 to £152,689. The annual change there was a rise of 1.6%.
The smallest monthly increase was 0.2% in the West Midlands. Average prices there rose from £192,557 in April to £192,958 in May. The annual change there was a 1.2% rise.
The largest annual increase was in London, up 8.6% from £469,314 in May 2012 to £509,870 in May this year. The monthly change was a rise of 3.3%.
The largest annual decrease was in the Yorkshire & Humberside region, down 1.1% from £159,704 in May 2012 to £158,020 in May this year. The monthly change was a rise of 1.2%.
Source: Rightmove
Regional Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices in England and Wales.
The Land Registry’s April survey shows the prices of a typical UK property per region as follows:
The largest monthly increase was in London, which saw an increase over the month of 1.4%, bringing the average house price in the capital to £375,795. This is 6.2% higher than this time last year. This is the largest annual rise.
The largest monthly decrease in price is in the North East, where the average price fell 1.6% to £95,546, which is 5.7% lower than a year ago. This is a largest annual fall.
Source: Land Registry
Analysis of Acadametrics HPI data by region
The April figures show that of the ten regions specified, seven had an increase in house prices in April – by far the largest was Greater London (10.6% to £442,495),
The North saw the greatest fall – 1.3% (to £142,002).
Source: Acadametrics
Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices in England and Wales by County/Unitary authority.
The Land Registry’s April survey shows the prices of a typical UK property per county or unitary authority as follows:
The greatest monthly price increase is Merthyr Tydfil, where the average price is up by 7.2% to £70,738. This is 4.8% up on last year.
The greatest monthly decrease in price was shared by Rhondda Cynon Taff and City of Kingston Upon Hull, where prices fell by 3.0% to an average of £69,813 and £67,387 respectively.
Middlesbrough saw a fall of 11.8% on last year – the largest annual drop – taking the average house price here to £72,308.
Ceredigion saw the greatest annual increase – up 8.3% to £162,915.
Two counties / authorities saw no price movement in the month – Cornwall and the Isle of Wight.
Source: Land Registry
Analysis of Acadametrics HPI data by County/Unitary Authority
The unitary authority with the largest increase in house prices between March 2012 and March 2013 (excluding Greater London) was Rutland, where the average house price rose by 13.0% to £305,084 (although this is a small area with fewer transactions than most). Next was Cambridgeshire which saw a rise of 7.8% to £251,448 in the same period.
The greatest decrease was Blackburn & Darwen, where there was a 14.1% drop (to £104,092).
Hartlepool experienced no statistically significant change at all over the year – the average price fell by £8 to £118,135.
Source: Acadametrics
Rightmove’s analysis of asking prices by London Borough.
In the period from 7th April to 11th May 2013, the largest increase in asking prices was in Camden, where they rose by 7.2% to an average of £1,052,183. Next highest, Brent, saw a rise this month of 5.9% to £732,587. The annual rises were 13.5% and 8.0% respectively.
In Kingston-upon-Thames, asking prices fell by 0.5% in the month, and fell by 1.7% over the year. The average house price there is now £676,912.
Annually, Kensington & Chelsea saw the highest rise (13.9%) to an average of £2,371,633, even though the monthly rise was only 0.6%. Tower Hamlets saw the largest annual decrease, where average asking prices have fallen by 2.3% over the year to £433,322. The monthly change there was, however, a rise of 1.5%.
Source: Rightmove
Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices by Metropolitan District.
The Land Registry’s April survey shows the average prices of property by Metropolitan District as follows:
The greatest monthly price increase is in Barnsley, where the average price is up by 3.5% to £89,155. This is 3.4% higher than last year – the largest annual rise.
The greatest monthly decrease in price is in Rochdale, where prices fell by 3.9% to an average of £86,717. This is 6.7% lower than last year.
Oldham saw the greatest annual decrease – down 11.4% to £74,139. The monthly change here was a drop of 2.5%.
Source: Land Registry
Acadametrics data analysed by London Borough
Comparing March 2012 to March 2013, the City of Westminster had the greatest increase in house prices - 38.7% to an average of £1,260,125. Kensington & Chelsea is still the most expensive borough at an average of £1,503,189, which is 11.4% higher than last March.
Only one borough saw a decrease over the year – Redbridge (by 0.4% to £285,018). Barking & Dagenham remains the cheapest borough in terms of house prices at an average of £184,269, although this is 3.9% higher than last year.
Source: Acadametrics
Analysis of Land Registry’s House Prices in Greater London.
The Land Registry’s April survey shows the average prices of property per London Borough as follows:
The greatest monthly price increase is in Barking & Dagenham - the average price is up by 2.2% in the borough, to £221,701. This is 6.7% higher than last year.
The greatest monthly decrease in price is once again in Islington, where prices fell by 0.6% to an average of £493,748. However, this is 3.7% higher than last year.
All boroughs saw a price rise over the year, with Camden being the largest – 11.8% to £657,790 – although the monthly rise here was only 1.1%.
The smallest annual rise was in Greenwich, which saw a rise of 0.7% on last year, to £269,319 – there was a monthly rise here was also of 0.7%.
Source: Land Registry
Rightmove’s Asking Prices by Property Type
Rightmove have published figures showing National Asking Prices analysed by property type.
In the year to 11th May 2013, the average change over all property types was an increase of 2.5%. All types of property (which Rightmove classify) are up on last year. Flats’ and Apartments’ asking prices rose by 3.9%, and Terraced properties’ prices rose by 3.7%.
Semi-Detached properties’ prices rose by 2.3%, and Detached property asking prices rose by 2.7% since last year.
Source: Rightmove
Land Registry’s Average Prices by Property Type
The Land Registry’s April average price figures analysed by property type show that the prices over all types of property rose by 0.7% in the year since April 2012. The average price is now £161,458.
Flats & Maisonette properties rose by 1.9% to £152,313 over the year, and Semi-detached properties rose by 0.8% to £153,119. Terraced properties rose by 0.6% to an average of £122,134 whereas Detached properties fell by 0.4% to an average of £255,006.
Source: Land Registry
Latest Property Sales Volumes by price range
According to the Land Registry’s April Report, in February 2013, 43,573 sales transactions took place in England and Wales, and 6,349 in London. This represents a fall of 3% in England & Wales, and a fall of 4% in London since last February’s figures, (44,829 and 6,620 respectively).
Compared to last February, in the price bracket of over £1 million, the sales volume in London increased from 326 to 365 – a rise of 12%, and in England & Wales it increased from 475 to 488 – a rise of 3%.
At the other end of the market (below £250k), the volume fell by 2.8% from 33,977 to 33,015 in England & Wales, and by 13.0% from 2,924 to 2,515 in London.
Source: Land Registry
Hometrack Monthly House Price Survey
Hometrack compile sample data monthly from thousands of Estate Agents in all 2,300 postcodes in England and Wales. The figures are weighted according to postcode, but not seasonally adjusted.
May’s figures (published 27th May 2013) show that the average amount of time that a house is on the market has dropped to 8.8 weeks. Regionally, this ranges from 4.3 weeks in London to 13.4 weeks in the East Midlands.
On average, 93.9% of the asking price is achieved, ranging from 95.9% in Greater London, down to 92.1% in the North West.
28.5% of postcode districts reported a price increase in May, a rise from 21.6% in April. 4.4% had a price decrease over the month, down slightly from 4.6% in April.
Source: Hometrack
Land Registry Quarterly Sales Volumes
In the quarter from November 2012 to February 2013 (the latest for which figures are available), the average number of property transactions per month was 51,386. This is down on the same period a year ago, when the average was 53,151 sales per month.
Source: Land Registry
Land Registry figures including Repossessions.
The headline figures in the April 2013 report are altered when repossession data is included – the average house price is then £159,588: 0.6% up on March and 1.3% up on April 2012.
In the months from November to February, the number of repossessions averaged 1,400 per month. In the same period last year, the average was 1,695 per month.
There was a total reduction in the number of repossessions over the year to February 2013 of 28%. Regional analysis shows that the West Midlands had 42% fewer repossessions over the year, whereas the North East and North West both saw only 13% fewer.
Source: Land Registry
Outstanding Mortgage Debt
The average outstanding mortgage for the 11.3m households who currently have mortgages is estimated at £112,394 in March 2013.
Outstanding secured lending in the UK on dwellings totalled £1,265 billion at the end of March 2013. This is up from the previous March’s £1,250 billion.
Source: Credit Action
Buy-to-Let Mortgages
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that Buy-to-Let lending accounted for 13.4% of total gross mortgage lending in the UK by the end of Q1 2013. This is up from last quarter’s 13%, and 12.9% at the end of Q1 2012.
During the first quarter of 2013, the total lent on buy-to-let mortgages was £4.2 billion (33,500 loans). This is a decrease on the previous quarter’s £4.6 billion but up on Q1 of 2012’s £3.7 billion.
There are currently 1.46 million buy-to-let mortgages, which accounts for about 13% of all UK mortgages.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
NHBC Figures for new homes
NHBC have released figures for new homes started and completed for the quarter to April 2013.
There were 27,900 new homes started in this period. This is an overall 14.8% increase compared to last year – private homes were up by 9.5% and affordable homes were up 33.1%.
There were 24,150 completions in the period – overall this is a decrease of 18.2% on last year. This figure comprises a 3.8% drop on private homes completed, and a huge 41.3% drop in the number of affordable homes completed.
Source: NHBC
Next Monthly Market Fact File due in early July.
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