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HOUSE PRICES: latest data for England, Scotland, N. Ireland and Wales
According to the latest Land Registry data, which reflects the property market from 3-6 months ago, England and Wales are performing much lower than their long term average, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are well above.
However, despite the averages, when you delve down more deeply into what’s happening in each country, property price performance differs within each market, and depending on the timing of the indices.
For Scotland, Wales and Northern Island, we monitor Halifax and e.surv.
‘Strongest price growth for a year’ in Scotland
Latest data from Halifax and e.surv suggests that prices are rising, albeit small ‘on average’:
“House prices in Scotland also increased, with a typical property now costing £204,952, +1.9% more than the year before.”
“In March, average property prices in Scotland increased by 1.4%, or almost £3,000, following a five month decline. This was a far stronger performance than that witnessed in the English and Welsh markets. Scotland’s average house price is currently just over £223,500, which is about £300 less than its high price from June 2023.
“Twenty one local authorities experienced rising prices in the month – the highest number since May last year and a further sign that the housing market is stabilising. Higher values helped four authorities – Midlothian, Argyll and Bute, Falkirk and Inverclyde – to reach new peaks.
“The five most expensive local authorities all reported higher prices in March, albeit marginally so in the case of East Lothian. A 1.5% increase for Midlothian made it the fifth local authority with average property prices above £300,000.”
Rosier picture of property prices in Wales
Halifax have a slightly rosier picture of property prices in Wales than Principality:
“In Wales, house prices grew annually by +0.7% to £219,483 (vs +1.1% in April).”
Northern Ireland property market shows ‘strong growth’
“Northern Ireland continues to show strong growth, up +3.2% in May, pulling back slightly from +3.3% in April.”
Regional property prices tracking
On a regional basis versus last month, Rightmove recorded most of the regions up, bar one, whereas this month it’s six regions up, two down and one with no change. Home.co.uk also recorded a fall in the number of regions up, from six to four and the number down, increased from three to five.
In contrast Nationwide, Halifax and Zoopla are recording similar results, while the Land Registry is seeing a spike in performance by region – with seven regions up versus three last month and only two down versus six the previous month.
This ‘difference’ in performance is likely to reflect the different time the index measures the market, with asking price indices seeing a slowing of the property market in some regions, mortgage indices showing prices across the regions not changing, while sold price data shows prices have improved in most regions.
Average prices from each region continue to show huge variations – with the North East ‘average’ ranging from £158,000 according to the Land Registry and Nationwide, shooting up by 24% to £196,000 when looking at data from Home.co.uk.
However, the variations change quite a bit. For example in London, Rightmove report an average asking price of £697,000 while sold property prices from the Land Registry are just over £499,600 – a 39% difference.
The biggest difference though is in the East where Rightmove has an average of £494,300 versus Nationwide’s average of £268,788 – an enormous 57% difference in price!
This shows that the only real data that matters to buyers and sellers is really the sold property price data versus the marketing price – averages from different indices can seriously distort the reality of what’s happening to individual properties.
Averages from different indices can seriously distort the reality of what’s happening to individual properties.”
Commentary on the regional performance by indices
“The North West remains the regional property market growth leader with a year-on-year gain of 3.7%, while the East Midlands is now the worst performing region over the same period at -1.3%.”
“The North West is the strongest performing nation or region in the UK, where house prices grew +3.8% on an annual basis in May. The average price of a property in the North West is now £232,258.
“Eastern England recorded the largest decline in annual growth across the UK. House prices here now average £329,853, down -0.8% in May.
“Unsurprisingly, London continues to have the most expensive average price tag, now at £536,821, up marginally (+0.2%) compared to last year.”
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