The most recent UK House Price Index Summary from HM Land Registry has found that as the property market entered the new year, January’s figures showed signs of a subdued market.
Even though January is usually a quiet month for housing sales, the average UK property price in January, was £228,147. This is the lowest annual growth recorded since June 2013 when the average UK property had increased by 1.5%.
Although this represented a 1.7% increase from the average price in January 2018, it indicated a 0.8% reduction from the average property price in December 2018.
The market once again demonstrated a clear variance in different areas of the UK. Prices in Wales increased by 4.6% whilst London prices fell by 1.6% over the year to January 2019.
This lack of certainty has also affected the average house price paid by a first-time buyer. Although the £191,799 paid by the average FTB represents a 1.3% increase annually, the 1.1% fall from December’s average price paid is significant. Similarly, former owner occupiers are paying 0.6% less than the month previous.
The average price paid by mortgage buyers was also 0.9% lower than the month previous with cash buyers’ average price also reducing in January by 0.7%.
Despite the drop in property prices, according to the UK Property Transactions Statistics for January 2019, the 101,170 residential property transactions had increased by 1.3% from a year earlier. Between December 2018 and January 2019 transactions had also increased by 0.8%.
When the most recent sales volumes from November 2017 were compared with November 2018, English transactions had increased by 16.6%. Scotland enjoyed an annual increase of 16.4% with transactions in Wales and Northern Ireland both increasing by 4.3%. This meant that over the course of the year, UK sales volume had improved by 11.5%.
As Brexit continues to press its claws into the property market, it would seem that property transactions are increasing at a flatter rate when compared with the growth in 2018 and average house prices are going to continue struggling.
How much of an impact will Brexit have on the property market?
