Posts Tagged ‘house price’

Did house prices fall or rise in May?

June 26th, 2009

The NationWide reported an overall price rise of 1.2% in May 2009, BUT the Land Registry (which records all UK house sales) recorded a fall of 0.2% in average property prices.  So who is right?

On the face of it I would go with Land Registry, simply because they are based on a higher volume of transactions, that said, depending on how intelligently Nationwide puts its stats together, then they could be more accurate.  For example a bank/building society could make more like-for-like comparisons to see changes in similar property types, whereas Land Registry relies on transactions in a given postcode area.  But if you were a sceptic you might say that the bank want to talk up prices to get us buying and taking out their mortgages?

The most surprising thing for me from the Land Registry May 2009 house price data is how it varies by area.  For example Wales recorded an average increase of 1.2%, whereas London recorded a fall of 1.5% and Yorkshire & Humberside a 2.3% fall; worse still the North East recorded a 4.3% fall in May, lets hope that was just a statistical error!

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Find out what your house is worth today

June 25th, 2009

I came across this useful house price calculator tool that some may find helpful … http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/calculator.asp

As the starting point you need to know when your property was last valued and what that figure was … for example you can use your purchase price as the approximate valuation, or maybe when you last re-mortgaged.  The calculator will then give you an indication as to the value of your property in the most recent year-quarter.

However be aware, the figures are based on UK averages, your property may not follow the UK average (see the earlier post on property prices).  Another factor to consider is any improvements you have made to the property. 

Overall though the calculator is a useful tool based on historical changes to the average UK prices, if only we had a calculator that could look into the future!

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Where are we now with house prices?

June 25th, 2009

This is a tough one to answer.  Looking back the decline in UK residential property prices started around the end of 2007.  There has been much data published on prices falling month by month, although since March 2009 some have been suggesting price increases (Halifax reported an increase of 2.6% in May 2009), but for many of us it doesn’t feel like prices are increasing.

According to an article published in Telegraph.co.uk most towns and cities across the UK have fallen by over 20% from their peak in late 2007.   Some areas have seen dramatic falls in prices (figures based on February 2009)…

Blackpool: -28.2%

Kilmarnock: -26.5%

Hertford: -26.5%

Bridgend: -22.5%

Exmouth: -21.4%

Windsor: -21.1%

London: -21.4% (data from another source)

A useful source of data on house price changes in 12 months to April 2009 can be found on the UK Government Communities websites ..link http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1247222.pdf   The regional index highlights a fall of 15% in London and 14.8% in the South East.  But the largest falls by far have been in Northern Ireland where prices have fallen around 23% in the 12 months to April 2009.

Probably the key question for many is what about future house prices?  Well, there are many opinions on this, much will depend on the impact of unemployment, but from reading the many analyst reports our interpretation is we may have another 10% fall in average prices – but clearly this will vary by town / city.

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