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UK House Prices Situation: Little real change - some small
fluctuations
UK
House Prices Forecast: Gradual falls nationally this year
Land
Registry Figures Show Small Rise In January…
The
Land Registry has just published its most recent House
Price Index, covering the month of January. The figures
showed a 0.9% monthly rise nationally, although the annual
rate of growth declined for the fifth consecutive month,
from 6.7% in December to 6.4% in January.
The
Land Registry's figures are widely considered to be the
most accurate and reliable indicator of house
price trends because they are based on all completed
sale prices. Most other indices use either asking prices,
which typically change before a sale completes, or only
include sales requiring mortgages - excluding cash sales.
The downside of the Land Registry's approach is that data
typically lags the other house price indices, since it
relies on completed sales.
Here
are the regional figures for completed sales in January
(annual changes in brackets):
·
North West: 2.0% (5.8%)
· London: 1.5% (13.1%)
· East Midlands: 1.5% (3.4%)
· West Midlands: 1.3% (3.9%)
· South East: 1.1% (7.8%)
· South West: 1.0% (5.4%)
· North East: 0.9% (5.4%)
· Yorkshire & The Humber: 0.9% (4.3%)
· East Anglia: 0.2% (5.7%)
· Wales: -0.3% (1.3%)
Wales
seems to have come off worse - experiencing the lowest
rate of annual growth and a small fall in average prices
during January.
…But
Hometrack Figures Report Slowdown in February
House
price website Hometrack carries out a monthly survey of
estate agents, which it uses to produce monthly figures
on house price changes.
The
Hometrack survey for February found that on average, house
prices were down by 0.2% in February, with annual
growth falling to 1.4% - the lowest level for nearly two
years.
On
the positive side, estate agents reported significant
increases in new buyer registrations - possibly a sign
that activity might pick up over the traditional spring
buying season.
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