20 things

20 things you should know about

21 April 2007

• The Communities and Local Government (CLG) revealed that the mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in February 2007 stood at £205,102.

• This was down from £205,399 in January 2007, not seasonally adjusted, the report indicated.
• Regionally, the study suggested that mix-adjusted average house prices in February were £212,642 in England.
• The figure reached £162,152 in Wales the CLG stated, while in Scotland it reached £149,882, and Northern Ireland recorded a figure of £209,643.
• The inflation rate in England rose from 9.9 per cent in January to 11 per cent in February, while in Scotland the inflation rate rose from 15.9 per cent to 16.6 per cent.

• In Wales, the inflation rate rose from 10.2 per cent to 11.1 per cent and in Northern Ireland the rate rose from 42.5 per cent to 47.5 per cent.
• From a regional perspective within England, the CLG revealed that the English region with the highest average house price in February remained London at £310,245.
• The lowest average price was in the North East at £144,213.
• House price inflation rose in five of the English regions and fell in four regions. The highest inflation rate was in London, at 16.7 per cent, followed by the East, at 12 per cent, and the South East, which recorded a figure of 10.8 per cent.
• The lowest inflation rates recorded were in the West, at 7.9 per cent, and the East Midlands, at 6.8 per cent.

• Only the East, London, South East and the South West had average prices above the UK average.
• Average property prices for bungalows fell 1.1 per cent between January and February.
• Terraced and detached properties also experienced an average price downturn of 0.5 per cent, the study revealed.
• Research into buyer-types revealed that the UK house price inflation rate for first-time buyers rose from 10.6 per cent in January to 12.5 per cent in February. There was a rise of 0.5 per cent in the prices index between January and February in the properties bought by first-time buyers compared with a fall of 1.2 per cent over the same period last year.
• The average price paid by first-time buyers across the whole of the UK was £156,031 in February, while the average price paid by former owner occupiers was £229,176, the CLG indicated in its February study.
• The inflation rate for former owner occupiers rose from 11.0 per cent in January to 11.9 per cent in February. There was a fall of 0.4 per cent in the prices index between January and February in the properties bought by former owner occupiers, compared with a larger fall of 1.2 per cent over the same period last year.

• David Stubbs, senior economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said: “Although the raw numbers from the CLG show a fall, the figures do not take into account seasonal swings. The market clearly has strong momentum with buoyant economic conditions keeping housing demand high and supply limited, despite the effects of the three interest rate increases since August.”
• He added: “The Spring period has been a good one for the market and it is clear that further interest rate hikes will be necessary to stabilise the market as the year progresses.”
• The house price series is produced by the CLG.
• Development of the methodology underpinning the indices has been undertaken in conjunction with the Office for National Statistics.