UK House Price Index summary: August 2018
Published 17 October 2018
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-house-price-index-summary-august-2018/uk-house-price-index-summary-august-2018
1. Headline statistics for August 2018
the average price of a property in the UK was
£232,797
the annual price change for a property in the UK was
3.2%
the monthly price change for a property in the UK was
0.2%
the monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was
122.1
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 September 2018 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 14 November 2018. See the calendar of release dates.
2. Economic statement
UK house prices rose by 3.2% in the year to August 2018, down from 3.4% in the year to July 2018. Annual growth in house prices has remained broadly stable at a national level since April 2018.
House prices grew fastest in the East Midlands region increasing by 6.5% in the year to August 2018, followed by the West Midlands region which increased by 5.1% over the year. House prices in London fell by 0.2% in the year to August 2018. Annual growth in London house prices has been around zero for the last 6 months.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey for August 2018 report that their newly agreed sales net balance was negative, and at its lowest reading for five months, pointing towards a fall in sales transactions. In line with this, their 12-month sales expectations series is negative, mainly driven by London.Looking at the demand for housing, the new buyer enquiries series is consistent with a flat trend in buyer demand.
In the Bank of England’s Agents’ summary of business conditions for 2018 Q3, agents reported a softening in the housing market with fewer transactions and weaker price inflation in many areas. It reports that the new-build market remained stronger than the secondary market.
The UK Property Transaction Statistics for August 2018 showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 99,120. This is 2.6% lower compared with a year ago. Between July and August 2018, transactions increased by 1.3%.
The Bank of England’s Money and Credit release showed that the number of mortgages approved for house purchases increased in August 2018, to 66,440 mortgages, higher than the average over the past 6 months, but a decrease of 0.4% when compared to August 2017. Mortgage approvals are seen to be a leading indicator of transactions volumes.
3. Price changes
3.1 Annual price change
Annual price change for UK by country over the past 5 years
Download this chart’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Average house prices in the UK increased by 3.2% in the year to August 2018 (down from 3.4% in July 2018).
At the country level, the largest annual price growth was recorded in Wales, where house prices increased by 6.2% over the year to August 2018.
Scotland saw house prices increase by 4.1% over the last 12 months.
In England, the average price increased by 2.9% over the year.
The average price in Northern Ireland increased by 4.4% over the year to quarter 2 (April to June) 2018.
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 | £249,748 | 0.2% | 2.9% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 2 - 2018) | £132,795 | -1.0% | 4.4% |
| Scotland | £153,309 | 0.3% | 4.1% |
| Wales | £162,374 | 1.9% | 6.2% |
| East Midlands | £194,718 | 1.5% | 6.5% |
| East of England | £292,107 | -1.1% | 1.6% |
| London | £486,304 | -0.5% | -0.2% |
| North East | £133,538 | 1.4% | 2.9% |
| North West | £163,487 | 0.0% | 3.3% |
| South East | £329,264 | 0.1% | 1.9% |
| South West | £257,659 | -0.4% | 2.9% |
| West Midlands Region | £199,000 | 0.5% | 5.1% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £163,964 | 1.2% | 3.7% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Price changes by country and government office region
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.2% between July 2018 and August 2018, compared with an increase of 0.5% in average prices during the same period a year earlier (July 2017 and August 2017). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.3% between July 2018 and August 2018.
Note that the Northern Ireland figure represents a three-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 | August 2018 | August 2017 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,354 | £338,099 | 3.6% |
| Semi-detached | £220,736 | £210,739 | 4.7% |
| Terraced | £188,889 | £182,873 | 3.3% |
| Flat or maisonette | £207,512 | £206,009 | 0.7% |
| All | £232,797 | £225,572 | 3.2% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
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 two 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
| Country | June 2018 | June 2017 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 63,673 | 84,327 | -24.5% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 2 - 2018) | 5,308 | 6,099 | -13.0% |
| Scotland | 10,419 | 10,888 | -4.3% |
| Wales | 3,753 | 4,691 | -20.0% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Note: The annual % change in the ‘Difference’ column will be influenced primarily by level of completeness of the latest month’s data reported and does not necessarily reflect the genuine trends.
The estimate for June 2018 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for June 2018 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index.
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, volume transactions fell by 5.9% in England, 3.0% in Scotland and 7.1% in Wales in the year to June 2018.
4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years
Sales volumes for 2014 to 2018 by country: June
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
In June 2018, the number of property transactions completed in the UK decreased by 21.5% when compared to June 2017. Compared to May 2018, the number of property transactions completed in the UK increased by 5.1%.
The estimate for June 2018 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for June 2018 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.
UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period), report that on a seasonally adjusted basis, UK volume transactions fell by 2.8% in the year to June 2018.
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 June 2018 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New build | £291,882 | 2.1% | 8.5% |
| Existing resold property | £224,782 | 0.7% | 3.0% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Note: since 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 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 August 2018 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| First time buyer | £196,572 | 0.4% | 3.1% |
| Former owner occupier | £270,059 | 0.1% | 3.3% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
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 August 2018 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | £221,866 | 0.2% | 3.0% |
| Mortgage | £243,021 | 0.3% | 3.3% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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