National statistics

UK House Price Index summary: March 2023

Published 24 May 2023

1. Headline statistics for March 2023

The average price of a property in the UK was £285,009

The annual price change for a property in the UK was 4.1%

The monthly price change for a property in the UK was -1.2%

The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 149.5

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 April 2023 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 21 June 2023. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

The annual percentage change for average UK house prices was 4.1% in the 12 months to March 2023, compared with 5.8% in the 12 months to February 2023.

The average UK house price was £285,000 in March 2023, which is £11,000 higher than 12 months ago, but £8,000 below the recent peak in November 2022. Average house prices increased over the 12 months to £304,000 (4.1%) in England, to £214,000 in Wales (4.8%), to £185,000 in Scotland (3.0%) and to £172,000 in Northern Ireland (5.0%).

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average UK house prices decreased by 1.2% between February 2023 and March 2023, while average UK house prices increased by 0.5% during the same period 12 months ago.

Annual house price inflation was highest in the South West where prices increased by 5.4% in the 12 months to March 2023. London was the English region with the lowest annual growth, where prices increased by 1.5% in the 12 months to March 2023.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS’) March 2023 UK Residential Market Survey reported a fall in demand. When disaggregated, the downturn in buyer demand remains widespread across the UK, with virtually all regions/countries posting a negative reading in the latest returns

The Bank of England’s Agents summary of business conditions 2023 Q1 reported a modest pick-up in secondary market activity and requests for valuations, but said that demand was broadly equal to the supply of properties available.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in March 2023, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 89,560. This is 18.9% lower than 12 months ago (March 2022). Between February 2023 and March 2023, UK transactions increased by 1.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The Bank of England’s Money and Credit March 2023 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, significantly increased to 52,000 in March 2023, from 44,100 in February 2023, yet remains below the monthly average for 2022 of 62,700.

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 4.1% in the 12 months to March 2023, down from 5.8% in February 2023.

At the country level, the highest annual house price percentage change in the 12 months to March 2023 was recorded in Wales, where house prices increased by 4.8%.

England saw house prices increase by 4.1% in the 12 months to March 2023.

Scotland saw houses prices increase by 3.0% in the 12 months to March 2023.

Northern Ireland saw house prices increase by 5.0% over the 12 months to Quarter 1 (January to March) 2023.

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 £304,193 -1.5% 4.1%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2023) £172,005 -1.8% 5.0%
Scotland £184,877 0.7% 3.0%
Wales £214,174 -0.6% 4.8%
East Midlands £246,092 -1.2% 4.9%
East of England £351,898 -2.0% 3.9%
London £523,325 -1.7% 1.5%
North East £156,912 -1.6% 4.0%
North West £211,759 -1.3% 5.2%
South East £394,543 -0.4% 4.6%
South West £326,035 -0.6% 5.4%
West Midlands Region £245,132 -4.0% 3.4%
Yorkshire and The Humber £203,635 -2.1% 4.1%

Price changes by country and government office region

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 1.2% between February 2023 and March 2023. This was down from an increase of 0.5% during the same period 12 months ago (February 2022 and March 2022). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.9% between February 2023 and March 2023.

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 March 2023 March 2022 Difference
Detached £453,949 £431,184 5.3%
Semi-detached £277,291 £264,692 4.8%
Terraced £229,752 £223,048 3.0%
Flat or maisonette £227,925 £221,211 3.0%
All £285,009 £273,787 4.1%

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 January 2023 January 2022
England 36,038 51,592
Northern Ireland 1,427 1,953
Scotland 5,791 7,326
Wales 2,001 2,969

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 January 2023 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for January 20222 with the provisional estimate for January 2023, volume transactions increased by 17.8% in England, decreased by 19.4% in Scotland and increased by 9.9% in Wales. Northern Ireland’s volume transactions decreased by 21.3% in the year to Quarter 1 2023.

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 January 2023 volume transactions decreased by 7.8% in England, decreased by 17.0% in Wales, decreased by 19.2% in Scotland, and decreased by 22.7% in Northern Ireland.

4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years

Sales volumes for 2019 to 2023 by country: January

Note: The number of property transactions for January 2023 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for January 20222 with the provisional estimate for January 2023, UK volume transactions increased by 9.3%.

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 9.6% in the 12 months to January 2023.

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 January 2023 Monthly change Annual change
New build £389,659 -0.9% 11.1%
Existing resold property £282,246 -0.9% 5.6%

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 March 2023 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £236,682 -1.3% 3.8%
Former owner occupier £334,480 -1.1% 4.3%

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 March 2023 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £269,272 -1.1% 3.8%
Mortgage £297,619 -1.2% 4.2%

8. Housing transaction distributions

Between October and December 2022, there were 169,263 property sales.

The most popular price range for:

  • England was £175,000 to £199,999 – 10,780 properties were purchased
  • Scotland was £125,000 to £149,999 – 2,548 properties were purchased
  • Wales was £150,000 to £174,999 – 1187 properties were purchased
  • Northern Ireland was £150,000 to £174,999 – 909 properties were purchased

The charts below show the distribution of housing transactions for Q4 (October to December) 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 23
£25,000 - £49,999 414
£50,000 - £74,999 2159
£75,000 - £99,999 5224
£100,000 - £124,999 7034
£125,000 - £149,999 8978
£150,000 - £174,999 10364
£175,000 - £199,999 10780
£200,000 - £224,999 10310
£225,000 - £249,999 10581
£250,000 - £274,999 10413
£275,000 - £299,999 9411
£300,000 - £324,999 8374
£325,000 - £349,999 7971
£350,000 - £374,999 7283
£375,000 - £399,999 6540
£400,000 - £424,999 5781
£425,000 - £449,999 5201
£450,000 - £474,999 4662
£475,000 - £499,999 4038
£500,000 - £524,999 3251
£525,000 - £549,999 2766
£550,000 - £574,999 2745
£575,000 - £599,999 2332
£600,000 - £624,999 2189
£625,000 - £649,999 1834
£650,000 - £674,999 1754
£675,000 - £699,999 1452
£700,000 - £724,999 1292
£725,000 - £749,999 1068
£750,000 - £774,999 1178
£775,000 - £799,999 875
£800,000 - £824,999 865
£825,000 - £849,999 769
£850,000 - £874,999 820
£875,000 - £899,999 642
£900,000 - £924,999 594
£925,000 - £949,999 436
£950,000 - £974,999 506
£975,000 - £999,999 387
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999 2338
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999 1433
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999 762
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999 438
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999 885
£5,000,000 - £9,999,999 87
greater than £10,000,000 24

Scotland housing transactions

Price band Housing transactions
less than £25,000 75
£25,000 - £49,999 611
£50,000 - £74,999 1508
£75,000 - £99,999 2391
£100,000 - £124,999 2314
£125,000 - £149,999 2548
£150,000 - £174,999 2267
£175,000 - £199,999 1951
£200,000 - £224,999 1808
£225,000 - £249,999 1732
£250,000 - £274,999 1509
£275,000 - £299,999 1190
£300,000 - £324,999 1097
£325,000 - £349,999 934
£350,000 - £374,999 728
£375,000 - £399,999 617
£400,000 - £424,999 452
£425,000 - £449,999 329
£450,000 - £474,999 301
£475,000 - £499,999 237
£500,000 - £524,999 218
£525,000 - £549,999 146
£550,000 - £574,999 136
£575,000 - £599,999 105
£600,000 - £624,999 107
£625,000 - £649,999 91
£650,000 - £674,999 77
£675,000 - £699,999 67
£700,000 - £724,999 54
£725,000 - £749,999 38
£750,000 - £774,999 34
£775,000 - £799,999 26
£800,000 - £824,999 24
£825,000 - £849,999 16
£850,000 - £874,999 24
£875,000 - £899,999 16
£900,000 - £924,999 13
£925,000 - £949,999 10
£950,000 - £974,999 11
£975,000 - £999,999 8
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999 59
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999 32
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999 24
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999 9
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999 13
£5,000,000 - £9,999,999 0
greater than £10,000,000 0

Wales housing transactions

Price band Housing transactions
less than £25,000 1
£25,000 - £49,999 27
£50,000 - £74,999 152
£75,000 - £99,999 495
£100,000 - £124,999 824
£125,000 - £149,999 1144
£150,000 - £174,999 1187
£175,000 - £199,999 966
£200,000 - £224,999 720
£225,000 - £249,999 722
£250,000 - £274,999 611
£275,000 - £299,999 503
£300,000 - £324,999 407
£325,000 - £349,999 308
£350,000 - £374,999 299
£375,000 - £399,999 239
£400,000 - £424,999 190
£425,000 - £449,999 165
£450,000 - £474,999 117
£475,000 - £499,999 102
£500,000 - £524,999 74
£525,000 - £549,999 61
£550,000 - £574,999 69
£575,000 - £599,999 49
£600,000 - £624,999 35
£625,000 - £649,999 27
£650,000 - £674,999 29
£675,000 - £699,999 23
£700,000 - £724,999 27
£725,000 - £749,999 10
£750,000 - £774,999 18
£775,000 - £799,999 8
£800,000 - £824,999 7
£825,000 - £849,999 9
£850,000 - £874,999 7
£875,000 - £899,999 5
£900,000 - £924,999 6
£925,000 - £949,999 4
£950,000 - £974,999 9
£975,000 - £999,999 4
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999 18
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999 6
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999 6
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999 1
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999 0
£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 10
£25,000 - £49,999 107
£50,000 - £74,999 400
£75,000 - £99,999 729
£100,000 - £124,999 759
£125,000 - £149,999 852
£150,000 - £174,999 909
£175,000 - £199,999 673
£200,000 - £224,999 402
£225,000 - £249,999 306
£250,000 - £274,999 225
£275,000 - £299,999 217
£300,000 - £324,999 139
£325,000 - £349,999 106
£350,000 - £374,999 68
£375,000 - £399,999 74
£400,000 - £424,999 49
£425,000 - £449,999 40
£450,000 - £474,999 29
£475,000 - £499,999 22
greater than £500,000 134

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