We track most of the monthly reports on property prices produced on a monthly basis. Although the indices use different forms of measurement, what we look for from the reports are any trends that are appearing in the property market.
Download the full report for March 2015
Kate's comments on the property price report headlines
“We are now entering probably the first ‘normal’ year in the property market since before the crash. No boom, no bust, just buyers and sellers, hopefully matching for the first time. Most importantly, we aren’t seeing the panic buying we saw back in 2013/14, so the market is calming down. According to the Halifax report/ONS: “Housebuilding increased in 2014 with the number of completions in England rising by 8% from 109,490 in 2013 to 118,760 in 2014”. But despite more sellers coming onto the market, we have too many agents - on and off-line - chasing too few properties. Without a dramatic increase in the number of homes built for sale, consolidation is bound to be the main issue for agents moving forward - who will survive the fall out?"
Actual Report Headlines
Average house prices clearly vary from London to Barrow so it's important for us to look at how the house price market is looking around the nation.
Kate's comments on regional price differences
“There is much talk about a ‘housing crisis’ going into the election and with Panorama’s view on housing this week, it’s bound to continue to be a ‘hot topic’. The problem is, the information given is very London and South East centric. These regional figures show that some areas are not recovering from their falls at all, while other areas are seeing +5-10% growth. Politicians need to be aware that they shouldn’t just be focusing on areas where there is a social and affordable housing crisis, but areas where there isn’t. Some areas, like Nottingham, don’t have the level of crisis we see everywhere else. But the media coverage and rhetoric has convinced people in Nottingham the crisis exists here too - yet our house prices, on average are the same as they were 10 years ago. We all need to work hard to make sure local people know if there is a problem or not, otherwise we will just convince first time buyers they can’t afford to ever buy, ensuring they stay in the rental market for longer than needed.”
Here's what the indices are saying about regional variations
Home.co.uk “The North-South divide has widened further over the last 12 months as a result of rapid growth in Greater London and the Home Counties while prices in the North stagnate. Moreover, the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Wales have yet to show any real signs of price recovery. Average prices in the North West, North East, Wales and Yorkshire all remain essentially unchanged from their Feb. 2010 values, a remarkably poor performance compared to the 18% rise overall for England and Wales over the same time frame. (Feb 15)”
Acadata “The average annual rate of change for each region, except Wales, has fallen in January compared to the previous month. Greater London saw the largest drop in the annual rate of house price growth, down 3.0% compared to the previous month, followed by the East Midlands, down 1.6%. The pattern of change in the housing market which began in London some seven months ago, of a decline in the rate of house price growth, is now being repeated across the remainder of England. (Feb 15)”
Hometrack “At a city level, the annual rate of growth ranges from 4.1% in Glasgow to 16.3% in Aberdeen. For the last five months the weakest performing cities have been registering positive growth on a rising trend. The impetus for national house price growth is emerging from the lower growth cities where house prices have been recovering for a limited period. The profile of the recent recovery in house prices varies across markets. There are two distinct groups of cities, first are those where house prices bottomed out in 2008/9 and have been recovering for 5-6 years. Second are cities where prices stopped falling as late as 2013 and the recovery has been shorter, running for the last 2-3 years.
“Fourteen cities saw house prices trough in 2008/9 with the strongest gains in southern England. The lowest growth has been seen in cities such as Manchester and Birmingham where the performance of house prices is more reliant on the local economy and growth in incomes and employment. The high growth, high value cities, such as, London, Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge, are all continuing to register slower house price inflation. (Jan 15)”
Land Registry “The region with the most significant annual price increase is London with a movement of 12.0 per cent. North East saw the lowest annual price growth with a movement of 0.1 per cent. North West experienced the greatest monthly price rise with a movement of 2.6 per cent. Yorkshire & The Humber saw the largest monthly decrease with a fall of 1.5 per cent. (Jan 15)”
Download the full report for March 2015
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