House Price Update to 2 June 2010

UK House Prices Situation: Small rise overall but big regional variations

UK House Prices Forecast: Little overall change but wealthy south will do better

New Land Registry Figures Show Mixture of Rises and Falls

The latest house price index from the Land Registry has highlighted the growing regional variations in house prices. House prices in England and Wales rose by an average of 0.2% in April, bringing the annual rate of change to a healthy 8.5%. However, these headline figures mask significant variations across the UK.

House prices in Yorkshire and Humberside fell by 2.2% in April and house prices in Wales fell by 1.6%. Yorkshire and Humberside also did worst on an annual basis, with house prices having risen by just 0.7% in the last year – the smallest rise in any region.

House prices in London rose by 1.6% in April and by 2.0% in the East Midlands, giving a 6.5% annual rise for this region. The North East did best of all in April with a 3.1% rise – but this came on the back of many months of falling prices, meaning that the annual rate of change for the North East is just 4.4% - compared to 14.8% in London.

The figures varied even more dramatically when looked at a unitary authority level. Middlesbrough faired worst with a 9.5% fall over the last year - a far cry from the 16.8% annual increase recorded in Brighton and Hove.

All of these figures highlight just how temperamental the housing market is at the moment – and how much the current mortgage market favours those with sizeable cash deposits and good credit ratings. Although mortgage availability is improving, there is a long way to go before anything close to equal access to mortgages is restored across England and Wales.

Read about UK House Price indexes / key statistics that track the ups and downs of house prices

Read our take on the Credit Crisis the effect on UK House Prices and Mortgages. A Special Report

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