Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index summary: December 2022

Published 15 February 2023

1. Headline statistics for December 2022

The average price of a property in the UK was £294,329

The annual price change for a property in the UK was 9.8%

The monthly price change for a property in the UK was -0.4%

The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 154.4

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data.

Next publication of UK HPI

The January 2023 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 22 March 2023. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

The annual percentage change for average UK house prices was 9.8% in the 12 months to December 2022, compared with 10.6% in the 12 months to November 2022 and 12.0% in the 12 months to October 2022.

The average UK house price was £294,000 in December 2022, which is £26,000 higher than 12 months ago. Average house prices increased over the year to £315,000 (10.3%) in England, to £222,000 in Wales (10.3%), to £187,000 in Scotland (5.7%) and to £175,000 in Northern Ireland (10.2%).

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average UK house prices decreased by 0.4% between November and December 2022, while average UK house prices increased by 0.3% during the same period 12 months ago.

House price annual growth was strongest in the East Midlands where prices increased by 12.3% in the 12 months to December 2022. The lowest annual growth was in Scotland, where prices increased by 5.7% in the 12 months to December 2022. London was the English region with the lowest annual growth, where prices increased by 6.7% in the 12 months to December 2022.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS’) December 2022 UK Residential Market Survey reported a further weakening in sales market activity to end the year. Metrics tracking sales, instructions and price trends all slipped deeper into negative territory over the month. Moreover, forward-looking indicators suggest housing market activity will remain on a downward trajectory over the coming months.

The Bank of England’s Agents summary of business conditions 2022 Q4 reported the supply of homes for sale increased faster than demand with higher borrowing costs and concerns about affordability weighing significantly on demand from first-time buyers.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in December 2022, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 101,920. This is 1.4% higher than 12 months ago (December 2021). Between November and December 2022, UK transactions decreased by 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The Bank of England’s Money and Credit December 2022 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, decreased to 35,600 in December 2022, from 46,200 in November 2022. This was the fourth consecutive monthly decrease in approvals for house purchases, and the lowest since May 2020. If the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and period immediately thereafter is excluded, house purchase approvals are at the lowest level since January 2009 (32,400).

3. Price changes

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for UK by country over the past 5 years

Average house prices in the UK increased by 9.8% in the 12 months to December 2022, down from 10.6% in November 2022.

At the country level, the highest annual house price percentage change in the 12 months to December 2022 was recorded in Wales and England, where house prices increased by 10.3%.

Scotland saw houses prices increase by 5.7% in the 12 months to December 2022.

Northern Ireland saw house prices increase by 10.2% over the 12 months to Quarter 4 (October to December) 2022.

3.2 Average price by country and government office region

Price, monthly change and annual change by country and government office region

Country and government office region Price Monthly change Annual change
England £315,119 -0.2% 10.3%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 - 2022) £175,234 -0.5% 10.2%
Scotland £187,224 -2.9% 5.7%
Wales £222,402 0.7% 10.3%
East Midlands £256,159 0.5% 12.3%
East of England £363,779 -0.8% 9.9%
London £543,099 0.0% 6.7%
North East £163,731 -0.5% 11.7%
North West £221,101 -0.1% 12.2%
South East £404,229 0.4% 10.1%
South West £330,601 -1.8% 8.9%
West Midlands Region £256,206 0.0% 10.7%
Yorkshire and The Humber £214,773 0.6% 11.8%

Price changes by country and government office region

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.4% between November 2022 and December 2022. This is down from an increase of 0.3% during the same period 12 months ago (November and December 2021). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.2% between November 2022 and December 2022.

Note: The Northern Ireland figure represents a 3-month change and is not comparable with the other regions and countries.

3.3 Average price by property type

Average monthly price by property type

Property type December 2022 December 2021 Difference
Detached £463,108 £418,943 10.5%
Semi-detached £286,413 £257,618 11.2%
Terraced £241,147 £219,790 9.7%
Flat or maisonette £233,400 £219,288 6.4%
All £294,329 £268,115 9.8%

4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

4.1 Sales volumes

Number of sales volumes by country

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year

Country October 2022 October 2021
England 52,334 47,410
Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 - 2022) 2,047 2,260
Scotland 8,945 10,429
Wales 2,993 4,155

Note: Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised 12-month volume estimate.

Note: The ‘Difference’ column has been removed from this table as the latest month’s data are not yet complete.

Note: The number of property transactions for October 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2021 with the provisional estimate for October 2022, volume transactions increased by 131.1% in England, decreased by 12.5% in Scotland and increased by 48.4% in Wales. Northern Ireland’s volume transactions decreased by 18.4% in the year to Quarter 4 2022.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in the 12 months to October 2022 volume transactions increased by 36.8% in England, decreased by 5.1% in Wales, decreased by 11.0% in Scotland, and increased by 7.8% in Northern Ireland.

4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years

Sales volumes for 2018 to 2022 by country: October

Note: The number of property transactions for October 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2021 with the provisional estimate for October 2022, UK volume transactions increased by 77.3% in the 12 months to October 2022.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, UK volume transactions increased by 27.6% in the 12 months to October 2022.

5. Property status for UK

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent 2 months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property

Property status Average price October 2022 Monthly change Annual change
New build £396,713 1.4% 19.8%
Existing resold property £288,245 0.2% 11.4%

Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in the methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status for Great Britain

First time buyer and former owner occupier

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for buyer status.

Type of buyer Average price December 2022 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £245,958 -0.3% 10.0%
Former owner occupier £343,953 -0.6% 9.6%

7. Funding status for Great Britain

Cash and mortgage

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for funding status.

Funding status Average price December 2022 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £277,675 -0.7% 8.6%
Mortgage £307,709 -0.4% 10.2%

8. Housing transaction distributions

Between July and September 2022, there were 226,439 property sales.

The most popular price range for:

  • England was £175,000 to £199,999 – 11,438 properties were purchased
  • Scotland was £125,000 to £149,999 – 2,851 properties were purchased
  • Wales was £125,000 to £149,999 – 1230 properties were purchased
  • Northern Ireland was £125,000 to £149,999 – 938 properties were purchased

The charts below show the distribution of housing transactions for Q3 (July to September) 2022 for countries of the UK. Data for Great Britain is presented in bands of £25,000 up to £10 million, followed by a larger band for over £10 million. Data for Northern Ireland is presented in bands of £25,000 up to £500,000, followed by a larger band for over £500,000.

In line with the UK HPI revisions policy, the number of transactions will increase as more data are incorporated into the index, which would also impact the distributions presented in this analysis.

England housing transactions

Price band Housing transactions
less than £25,000 17
£25,000 - £49,999 458
£50,000 - £74,999 2416
£75,000 - £99,999 5362
£100,000 - £124,999 7422
£125,000 - £149,999 9755
£150,000 - £174,999 10987
£175,000 - £199,999 11438
£200,000 - £224,999 10677
£225,000 - £249,999 11206
£250,000 - £274,999 10995
£275,000 - £299,999 9968
£300,000 - £324,999 8882
£325,000 - £349,999 8536
£350,000 - £374,999 7840
£375,000 - £399,999 6940
£400,000 - £424,999 5771
£425,000 - £449,999 5440
£450,000 - £474,999 4769
£475,000 - £499,999 4283
£500,000 - £524,999 3418
£525,000 - £549,999 3036
£550,000 - £574,999 2942
£575,000 - £599,999 2457
£600,000 - £624,999 2238
£625,000 - £649,999 2071
£650,000 - £674,999 1913
£675,000 - £699,999 1611
£700,000 - £724,999 1421
£725,000 - £749,999 1251
£750,000 - £774,999 1270
£775,000 - £799,999 1059
£800,000 - £824,999 990
£825,000 - £849,999 833
£850,000 - £874,999 856
£875,000 - £899,999 747
£900,000 - £924,999 671
£925,000 - £949,999 534
£950,000 - £974,999 603
£975,000 - £999,999 513
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999 2668
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999 1821
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999 940
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999 565
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999 1196
£5,000,000 - £9,999,999 112
greater than £10,000,000 26

Scotland housing transactions

Price band Housing transactions
less than £25,000 75
£25,000 - £49,999 602
£50,000 - £74,999 1640
£75,000 - £99,999 2495
£100,000 - £124,999 2646
£125,000 - £149,999 2851
£150,000 - £174,999 2625
£175,000 - £199,999 2326
£200,000 - £224,999 1982
£225,000 - £249,999 1899
£250,000 - £274,999 1700
£275,000 - £299,999 1377
£300,000 - £324,999 1166
£325,000 - £349,999 1008
£350,000 - £374,999 883
£375,000 - £399,999 643
£400,000 - £424,999 544
£425,000 - £449,999 371
£450,000 - £474,999 320
£475,000 - £499,999 277
£500,000 - £524,999 221
£525,000 - £549,999 157
£550,000 - £574,999 162
£575,000 - £599,999 104
£600,000 - £624,999 121
£625,000 - £649,999 71
£650,000 - £674,999 95
£675,000 - £699,999 72
£700,000 - £724,999 68
£725,000 - £749,999 50
£750,000 - £774,999 48
£775,000 - £799,999 28
£800,000 - £824,999 46
£825,000 - £849,999 33
£850,000 - £874,999 24
£875,000 - £899,999 13
£900,000 - £924,999 27
£925,000 - £949,999 12
£950,000 - £974,999 20
£975,000 - £999,999 12
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999 66
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999 33
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999 10
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999 6
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999 16
£5,000,000 - £9,999,999 0
greater than £10,000,000 0

Wales housing transactions

Price band Housing transactions
less than £25,000 0
£25,000 - £49,999 24
£50,000 - £74,999 162
£75,000 - £99,999 551
£100,000 - £124,999 802
£125,000 - £149,999 1230
£150,000 - £174,999 1181
£175,000 - £199,999 1090
£200,000 - £224,999 762
£225,000 - £249,999 713
£250,000 - £274,999 575
£275,000 - £299,999 501
£300,000 - £324,999 447
£325,000 - £349,999 355
£350,000 - £374,999 311
£375,000 - £399,999 243
£400,000 - £424,999 180
£425,000 - £449,999 163
£450,000 - £474,999 122
£475,000 - £499,999 108
£500,000 - £524,999 67
£525,000 - £549,999 78
£550,000 - £574,999 46
£575,000 - £599,999 64
£600,000 - £624,999 37
£625,000 - £649,999 34
£650,000 - £674,999 37
£675,000 - £699,999 26
£700,000 - £724,999 15
£725,000 - £749,999 19
£750,000 - £774,999 17
£775,000 - £799,999 18
£800,000 - £824,999 12
£825,000 - £849,999 12
£850,000 - £874,999 15
£875,000 - £899,999 6
£900,000 - £924,999 4
£925,000 - £949,999 5
£950,000 - £974,999 8
£975,000 - £999,999 10
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999 23
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999 14
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999 3
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999 0
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999 2
£5,000,000 - £9,999,999 0
greater than £10,000,000 0

Northern Ireland housing transactions

Price band Housing transactions
less than £25,000 8
£25,000 - £49,999 82
£50,000 - £74,999 404
£75,000 - £99,999 777
£100,000 - £124,999 791
£125,000 - £149,999 938
£150,000 - £174,999 870
£175,000 - £199,999 690
£200,000 - £224,999 421
£225,000 - £249,999 331
£250,000 - £274,999 247
£275,000 - £299,999 218
£300,000 - £324,999 127
£325,000 - £349,999 111
£350,000 - £374,999 85
£375,000 - £399,999 74
£400,000 - £424,999 59
£425,000 - £449,999 38
£450,000 - £474,999 35
£475,000 - £499,999 39
greater than £500,000 133

9. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

10. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

11. Contact

Eileen Morrison, Data Services Team Leader, HM Land Registry

Email eileen.morrison@landregistry.gov.uk

Telephone 0300 006 5288

Aimee North, Head of Housing Market Indices, Office for National Statistics

Email aimee.north@ons.gov.uk

Telephone 01633 456400

Ciara Cunningham, Statistician for the Northern Ireland HPI

Email ciara.cunningham@finance-ni.gov.uk

Telephone 028 90 336035

Anne MacDonald, Land & Property Data Team, Registers of Scotland

Email Anne.MacDonald@ros.gov.uk

Telephone 0131 378 4991