New Land Registry House Price Index puts average price up to £209,054

New Land Registry House Price Index puts average price up to £209,054

The revamped House Price Index from Land Registry has put the average price of a UK property up 8.2% year on year to £209,054.

The statistics also include data on sales volumes for February which put the final number of sales in February at 56,884 for England, 5,507 for Scotland and 2,796 for Wales, rises of 1.1%, 7.7% and 4.1% on twelve months previously respectively.

Regionally, prices fell in April in several regions, down 1.9% in Wales, 2.8% in the South West and 0.9% in the North East. Prices rose fastest in the North West, up 2.3% and 2.2% in the west midlands.

Despite some monthly falls, all regions saw price rises year on year except the North East, which sees prices stagnate with a rise of just 0.1%. The biggest rises were in London 14.5% and in the East of England, which saw a 13.6% rise.

The average price paid by first time buyers rose by an average of 8.2% over the year and up 0.9% on March to £176,773, far outstripping any bonus available through help to buy schemes. The average price paid by a former owner occupier is £242,109, up 0.4% month to month and 8.4% year on year.

The new HPI makes several notable exclusions however. Land Registry also say that this version of the House Price Index will have an “experimental” tag attached until the end of the year. Those sales not used in these statistics include:

  • all commercial transactions
  • sales that were not for full market value
  • transfers, conveyances, assignments or leases at a premium with nominal rent which are:
  • ‘Right to buy’ sales at a discount.
  • subject to a lease
  • subject to an existing mortgage
  • to effect the sale of a share in a property
  • by way of a gift
  • under a Compulsory Purchase order
  • under a court order
  • to Trustees appointed under Deed of appointment
  • Vesting Deeds Transmissions or Assents
  • of more than one property
  • leases for seven years or less

The new house price index format includes breakdowns of first time buyers and new build homes and has been developed by Land Registry, Office for National Statistics, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services Northern Ireland, and the Valuations Office Agency.

The figures are ‘mix-adjusted’ to account for the tendency of some properties to sell better depending on the time of year. The price data will be calculated using a geometric average – similar to a median.

Josh Morris

Josh is the Journalist for the Today's Group and writes many of the articles for Today's Conveyancer. He graduated with a degree in Physics from Cardiff University in 2009 before training as a journalist. He has previously written for The Times, The Mirror and The Daily Express.

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