UK House Price Index summary: May 2020
Published 2 September 2020
© Crown copyright 2020
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-house-price-index-summary-may-2020/uk-house-price-index-summary-may-2020
1. Headline statistics for May 2020
The average price of a property in the UK was £235,673
The annual price change for a property in the UK was 2.9%
The monthly price change for a property in the UK was 0.3%
The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 123.6
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 June 2020 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 16 September 2020. See the provisional publication schedule for more information.
2. Economic statement
The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions. Typically, a house purchase can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach completion. Therefore, the price data feeding into the May 2020 UK HPI will mainly reflect those agreements that occurred before the government measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 took hold.
UK house prices increased by 2.9% in the year to May 2020, up from 2.7% in April 2020. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.3% between April 2020 and May 2020, compared with a rise of 0.1% during the same period a year earlier (April 2019 and May 2019).
House price growth was strongest in Wales where prices increased by 4.8% over the year to May 2020. The highest annual growth within the English regions was in Yorkshire and The Humber where average house prices grew by 4.9%. The lowest annual growth was in the East of England, where prices increased by 0.7% over the year to May 2020.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) May 2020 UK Residential Market Survey results showed a slight improvement in the outlook for sales over the next 12 months, but the overall sentiment remains cautious due to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
The Bank of England’s Agents’ summary of business conditions - 2020Q1 reported that the housing market sentiment had seen a marked deterioration, due to the economic uncertainty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The UK Property Transactions Statistics for May 2020 showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 48,130. This is 49.9% lower than a year ago. Between April 2020 and May 2020, transactions increased by 14.5%.
The Bank of England’s Money and Credit May 2020 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases (an indicator of future lending) fell further in May to 9,300.
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 2.9% in the year to May 2020, up from 2.7% in April 2020.
At the country level, the largest annual house price growth was recorded in Wales, increasing by 4.8% over the year to May 2020.
Northern Ireland saw house prices increase by 3.8% over the year to Quarter 1 (January to March) 2020.
England house prices increased by 2.9% in the year to May 2020.
Scotland saw house prices increase by 2.1% in the year to May 2020.
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 | £251,973 | 0.2% | 2.9% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2020) | £140,580 | 0.2% | 3.8% |
| Scotland | £154,648 | 0.5% | 2.1% |
| Wales | £169,436 | 1.7% | 4.8% |
| East Midlands | £197,505 | -0.7% | 2.9% |
| East of England | £290,621 | -1.0% | 0.7% |
| London | £479,018 | -1.2% | 3.3% |
| North East | £134,545 | 5.3% | 4.4% |
| North West | £168,261 | 0.3% | 2.6% |
| South East | £324,659 | -1.1% | 2.0% |
| South West | £261,006 | -0.4% | 3.4% |
| West Midlands | £203,658 | 1.5% | 3.4% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £170,198 | 3.1% | 4.9% |
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 0.3% between April 2020 and May 2020, compared with a rise of 0.1% during the same period a year earlier (April 2019 and May 2019). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.2% between April 2020 and May 2020.
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 | May 2020 | May 2019 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £357,880 | £346,711 | 3.2% |
| Semi-detached | £225,300 | £217,808 | 3.4% |
| Terraced | £189,941 | £186,135 | 2.0% |
| Flat or maisonette | £207,583 | £201,761 | 2.9% |
| All | £235,673 | £229,061 | 2.9% |
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 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
| Country | March 2020 | March 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| England | 46,908 | 65,206 |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2020) | 4,746 | 5,177 |
| Scotland | 5,999 | 8,384 |
| Wales | 2,829 | 3,639 |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Note: The estimate for March 2020 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for March 2020 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.
Comparing the provisional volume estimate for March 2019 with the provisional estimate for March 2020, volume transactions decreased by 20.0% in England, 15.0% in Wales, and by 27.3% in Scotland and increased by 11.1% in Northern Ireland in the year to March 2020.
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 decreased by 7.5% in England, Scotland decreased by 25.8% and Wales decreased by 7.3% in the year to March 2020.
4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years
Sales volumes for 2016 to 2020 by country: March
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Note: The estimate for March 2020 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for March 2020 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.
Comparing the provisional volume estimate for March 2019 with the provisional estimate for March 2020, UK volume transactions decreased by 18.8%.
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 decreased by 9.2% in the year to March 2020.
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 March 2020 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New build | £297,830 | 0.9% | 5.3% |
| Existing resold property | £229,307 | 0.8% | 2.7% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
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
| Type of buyer | Average price May 2020 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| First time buyer | £198,513 | 0.5% | 2.9% |
| Former owner occupier | £273,020 | 0.1% | 2.9% |
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 May 2020 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | £223,196 | 0.3% | 2.4% |
| Mortgage | £246,016 | 0.3% | 3.1% |
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.
A processing error has occurred when calculating the total sales volumes for Scotland in February 2019. The correct total sales volumes for Scotland in February 2019 is 5,493. This will be corrected in the next publication. The sales volumes for the local authorities are unaffected.
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