Press release

February 2016 Market Trend Data

Land Registry's monthly Market Trend Data for residential property prices in England and Wales.

February 2016 heat map

The February data shows an annual price increase of 6.1% which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £190,275.
Monthly house prices have fallen by 0.2% since January 2016.

The regional data indicates that:

  • London experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months with a movement of 13.5%
  • the North West experienced the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 1.8%
  • the North East saw the only annual price fall with a movement of -3.2%
  • the North East also saw the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 1.2%

Sales and repossessions during December 2015, the most up-to-date figures available, show that:

  • the number of completed house sales in England and Wales fell by 6% to 73,326 compared with 78,208 in in December 2014
  • the number of properties sold in England and Wales for more than £1 million increased by 2% to 1,077 from 1,052 a year earlier
  • repossessions in England and Wales fell by 50% to 356 compared with 706 in December 2014
  • the region with the greatest fall in the number of repossession sales was London with a fall of 67% from December 2014.

Access the full February HPI report.

Price change by region

Region Monthly change since January 2016 Annual change since February 2015 Average price February 2016
North West 1.8% 4.9% £117,081
East Midlands 1.5% 6.2% £140,977
Yorkshire and The Humber 0.9% 4.1% £125,532
South East 0.7% 10.9% £267,235
East 0.7% 9.8% £220,188
South West 0.7% 6.7% £199,214
London 0.6% 13.5% £530,368
Wales -0.1% 1.2% £122,573
England and Wales -0.2% 6.1% £190,275
West Midlands -0.3% 4.5% £142,734
North East -1.2% -3.2% £97,582

Average price by property type 2016 to 2015

Average price by property type (England and Wales) February 2016 February 2015 Difference
Detached £298,876 £282,687 5.7%
Semi-detached £180,191 £169,344 6.4%
Terraced £143,060 £135,232 5.8%
Flat/maisonette £183,754 £172,981 6.2%
All £190,275 £179,407 6.1%

Sales volumes 2014 to 2013

Month Sales 2014England and Wales Sales 2013 England and Wales Difference
January 65,283 43,437 50%
February 65,095 45,305 44%
March 67,425 54,787 23%
April 70,386 51,103 38%
May 77,626 66,422 17%
June 80,975 66,257 22%
July 84,788 73,802 15%
August 87,957 79,579 11%
September 78,944 69,785 13%
October 86,494 76,762 13%
November 73,300 82,953 -12%
December 78,208 79,736 -2%
Total 916,481 789,928 16%

Sales volumes 2015 to 2014

Month Sales 2015England and Wales Sales 2014England and Wales Difference
January 56,921 65,283 -13%
February 58,041 65,095 -11%
March 65,560 67,425 -3%
April 62,680 70,386 -11%
May 72,404 77,626 -7%
June 81,947 80,975 1%
July 90,171 84,788 6%
August 82,172 87,957 -7%
September 79,442 78,944 1%
October 86,647 86,494 0%
November 75,697 73,300 3%
December 73,326 78,208 -6%
Total 885,008 916,481 -3%

Repossessions by region 2015 to 2014

Repossessions by region December 2015 December 2014 Difference
East 17 47 -64%
East Midlands 32 59 -46%
London 18 54 -67%
North East 15 27 -44%
North West 92 162 -43%
South East 31 88 -65%
South West 20 34 -41%
Wales 43 62 -31%
West Midlands 35 62 -44%
Yorkshire and The Humber 53 111 -52%
All 356 706 -50%

Access February Price Paid Data.

Notes to editors

  1. Market Trend Data is published on the 20th working day of each month. The March 2016 House Price Index (HPI) will be published at 9.30am on Thursday 28 April 2016. Price Paid Data is published at 11am on the same day.
  2. A calendar with release dates of the headline figure and the full HPI is available.
  3. The HPI is due to be replaced in June 2016 by a single ‘UK House Price Index’. The new statistics will replace the existing indices published separately by Land Registry and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). An article published today by ONS presents historic time series for the new index, comparing the new estimates with existing estimates of average house prices and house price growth: ONS article.
  4. The HPI uses a sample size that is larger than all other statistical measures available. It is calculated using Land Registry’s dataset of all single residential property sales completed in England and Wales since January 1995 subject to exclusions.
  5. Land Registry’s dataset contains details on more than 20 million residential transactions. Of these, more than 7 million are identifiable matched pairs, providing the basis for the repeat sales regression analysis used to complete the index. This technique of quality adjustment ensures an “apples to apples” comparison between properties.
  6. The adjusted headline statistics for England and Wales on p14 of the monthly HPI report include additional repossession data.
  7. The repossession data is based on the number of transactions lodged with Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale. Once we have identified these transactions, we extract the price paid information from the related register entry.
  8. Although the HPI goes back to January 1995, we have been recording repossessions comprehensively only since 2006. This means that historic repossession data is not available prior to January 2006. Read more information about repossessions data.
  9. HPI background tables are available as Open Data in Excel and CSV formats and in machine readable format as linked data. They are available for free use and re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL).
  10. Price Paid Data is property price data for all the property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with us for registration in that month.
    The following information is available for each property: * the full address * the price paid * the date of transfer * the property type * whether it is new build or not * whether it is freehold or leasehold
  11. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in txt and CSV formats and in a machine-readable format as linked data. It is available for anyone to examine or re-use free of charge under the OGL.
  12. Price Paid Data includes Standard Price Paid Data (SPPD) for single residential property sales at full market value and Additional Price Paid Data (APPD) for transactions previously excluded from SPPD such as: * transfers to a non-private individual, for example a company, corporate body or business * transfers under a power of sale (repossessions) * buy-to-lets (where they can be identified by a mortgage)
  13. The information available for each property indicates whether it is APPD or SPPD and the record’s status - addition/change/deletion (A/C/D).
  14. As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been open to public inspection since 1990.
  15. With the largest transactional database of its kind detailing more than 24 million titles, Land Registry underpins the economy by safeguarding ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property.
  16. For further information about Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
  17. Follow us on Twitter @LandRegGov, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact

Press Office

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Croydon
CR0 2AQ

Email HMLRPressOffice@landregistry.gov.uk

Phone (Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm) 0300 006 3365

Mobile (5:30pm to 8:30am weekdays, all weekend and public holidays) 07864 689 344

Published 30 March 2016