House Prices - August 2018
1. Headline statistics for August 2018
the average price of a property in the UK was
£232,797
the annual price change for a property in the UK was
3.2%
the monthly price change for a property in the UK was
0.2%
the monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was
122.1
Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index.
2. Economic statement
UK house prices rose by 3.2% in the year to August 2018, down from 3.4% in the year to July 2018. Annual growth in house prices has remained broadly stable at a national level since April 2018.
House prices grew fastest in the East Midlands region increasing by 6.5% in the year to August 2018, followed by the West Midlands region which increased by 5.1% over the year. House prices in London fell by 0.2% in the year to August 2018. Annual growth in London house prices has been around zero for the last 6 months.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey for August 2018 report that their newly agreed sales net balance was negative, and at its lowest reading for five months, pointing towards a fall in sales transactions. In line with this, their 12-month sales expectations series is negative, mainly driven by London.Looking at the demand for housing, the new buyer enquiries series is consistent with a flat trend in buyer demand.
In the Bank of England’s Agents’ summary of business conditions for 2018 Q3, agents reported a softening in the housing market with fewer transactions and weaker price inflation in many areas. It reports that the new-build market remained stronger than the secondary market.
The UK Property Transaction Statistics for August 2018 showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 99,120. This is 2.6% lower compared with a year ago. Between July and August 2018, transactions increased by 1.3%.
The Bank of England’s Money and Credit release showed that the number of mortgages approved for house purchases increased in August 2018, to 66,440 mortgages, higher than the average over the past 6 months, but a decrease of 0.4% when compared to August 2017. Mortgage approvals are seen to be a leading indicator of transactions volumes.
3. Price changes
Annual price change for UK by country over the past 5 years
Average house prices in the UK increased by 3.2% in the year to August 2018 (down from 3.4% in July 2018).
At the country level, the largest annual price growth was recorded in Wales, where house prices increased by 6.2% over the year to August 2018.
Scotland saw house prices increase by 4.1% over the last 12 months.
In England, the average price increased by 2.9% over the year.
The average price in Northern Ireland increased by 4.4% over the year to quarter 2 (April to June) 2018.