Official UK house price data published for first time

Official UK house price data published for first time

15:51 PM, 17th April 2012, About 12 years ago 4

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The first issue of UK house price data from the Office of National Statistics signals the start of a shift towards an official national house price index.

The average house price in the UK for February was £224,473 – down on January’s average of £228,064 but up from £211,960 a year earlier.

Over the year, UK house prices went up 0.3%.

Broken down, the figures are a 0.4% rise in England and a 1.1% increase in Scotland, while Wales fell 0.5% and Northern Ireland plunged 9.7%.

New homes increased in value by 7.7% over the year, while resold home values nudged up only 0.2%.

The ONS has taken on publishing house price data from the Communities and Local Government Department and included data from Scotland and Northern Ireland for the first time.

“The ONS house price index is an important measure of house price inflation for the UK and together with the Land Registry, it is one of the main house price indices used by central and local government to support decision making in the UK. Other users include private individuals, surveyors and analysts in financial institutions,” said the report.

“The index is also an important input into the housing cost component of the retail prices index (RPI).”

The report also explains that data across other published house price surveys is not comparable because each is based on different data and methods of calculating prices.

The UK Statistics Authority, the government agency that oversees the ONS, is reviewing official housing market statistics with the aim of developing an improved service.

A detailed report is expected before the summer


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Comments

Matchmade

21:22 PM, 17th April 2012, About 12 years ago

I am pretty sceptical about these statistics: as someone involved in property development and construction I simply do not believe that new home prices have gone up by 7.7% in a year, at a time of mortgage drought and the lowest level of new-build starts since the 1920s. It's more likely that builders are focusing on their higher-yielding bigger properties where buyers have substantial existing equity, rather than trying to build large numbers of small houses where buyers are scarce. This would push up the apparent average sale price for a "house", but then how does one define an average house?

I'd believe the figures more if I knew they were cross-referenced against the data available from EPCs, which all properties for sale and rent are now obliged to have, and the figures were based on £s per square metre. Yes, they could still create the headline-grabbing sale for an "average house" in different areas of the country, but a £ per square metre would allow much greater accuracy than the current 1-bed, 2-bed, 3-bed approach.

10:16 AM, 18th April 2012, About 12 years ago

The reported figures do not seem to be consistent.

It says "The average house price in the UK for February was £224,473 ... up from £211,960 a year earlier."

By my calculations this is an increase of 5.9%, not the 0.3% reported.

14:11 PM, 18th April 2012, About 12 years ago

The figures do not seem to be consistent.
"The average house price in the UK for February was £224,473 ... up from £211,960 a year earlier."

This appears to be a 5.9% increase, not the 0.3% quoted.

Devon Landlord

17:54 PM, 28th April 2012, About 12 years ago

I agree with Mike Barnes' figures, but feel that the whole process, as it stands, is crass. You can never compare like for like when dealing with individual properties as each house price will reflect the familiar TV comment, location, location, location. There is no doubt that average property prices will differ from region to region as regional stocks will differ. Most estate agents have little idea of the true value of properties and any property, however fantastic is only worth what a buyer pays. So, I say, cut the cow poo and just give us the figure of the total sales value of houses in a region, divided by the number of sales and let us be mature enough to draw our own conclusions. Once we have drawn those conclusions they will still not tell us anything from month to month but have to be compared over a much longer time span to have any real value.

Too many, so called experts, especially in the banking world have drawn too many conclusions from short range figures and that is why they are unable to assess what is coming at us over the horizon. Currently too many volatile factors are contributing to flux in the property markets, but it is still a great time for the buyer to invest having taken care to consider as many factors as s/he can before taking the plunge. Lets face it. There has been little building for nearly twenty years now and the population is still rising. People need to live somewhere so the letting market is likely to thrive for many years to come. Always remember that this kind of investment is for the medium to long term so it is a good move for young people with drive and determination to get involved in. But keep out the rogue landlords, they smear our busness and we don't want them.

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