Home Asking Price Index, April 2022: buyer frenzy accelerates
The Typical Time on Market in England and Wales fell to a record low of 55 days while asking prices rose 0.9% and rents jumped 18.5% annually.
This is the April 2022 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 13 April 2022, under the headline:
Buyer Frenzy Accelerates
The headlines and summary below are the report's own words, with the key figures as it published them, followed by the report's charts and regional tables as printed.
Headlines
- Property is moving through the market at a record pace due to vast buyer demand. The Typical Time on Market for unsold property in England and Wales has plummeted to just 55 days (median), 31 days less than in April 2021 and the lowest such figure in the history of this Index.
- Consequently, asking prices across England and Wales rose a further 0.9% overall in March, while the average price in Yorkshire jumped a massive 1.7%.
- The total stock of property for sale in England and Wales remains extremely low despite a small nudge up again for the third consecutive month.
- Monetary inflation is high and climbing, thereby making real home price growth progressively more negative despite the apparent high nominal growth.
- Marginally fewer vendors entered the UK market last month compared to April 2021 (-3%), although there were significant regional differences. The biggest fall was in London (-18%) while the biggest rise by far was the North East with a 14% increase in new listings year-on-year.
- The South West property market now leads in annualised regional price growth (+9.6%), narrowly ahead of the East Midlands (+9.5%). Only these two regions show growth above the latest RPI (ex housing) inflation figure.*
- Rents in Greater London continue to soar. Scarcity due to a return to urban living has pushed annualised growth in asking rents to a staggering 37%. The rental property drought is worsening in the capital region with new instructions down 55% last month compared to April 2021.
- Central London rents continue to skyrocket. The greatest rises in asking rents over the last twelve months aside from the City (+81%) are in Camden (+53%) and Kensington (+52%) as supply in these boroughs plummets.
- Scarcity of rental properties remains a problem across the UK and this is creating significant upward price pressure. Rents are up in every region and by 18.5% overall across the UK since April last year.
Summary
While spring is traditionally known for more optimistic pricing and an increase in the pace of the market, this year looks set to break all records. Already the Typical Time on Market has dropped to an all-time low and prices are surging. At the same time, supply remains very low thereby making for frenzied market conditions.
The fact is that the 2022 UK property market is continuing to follow the trend set in 2021, albeit at an even more frantic pace. In particular, Typical Time on Market for the East Midlands is indicating an unprecedented rate of turnover and, consequently, the second highest annualised price growth, just behind the South West. In this region too, unsold properties are spending very little time on the market (another record low), and huge reductions in marketing times are evident in all other regions. The largest year-on-year percentage reductions are to be found in the North East, Scotland and Wales. This is highly significant as drops in marketing time usually portend strong price growth in the near term.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Typical Time on Market | 55 days |
| Monthly asking price change | 0.9% |
| Annualised asking price growth | +6.4% |
| UK annual asking rent growth | 18.5% |
| Greater London annual asking rent growth | 37% |
| New vendor listings change | -3% |
| Average stock total drop | 23% |
Figures are for England and Wales unless the report states otherwise, as published in the edition.
Charts from the report
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, April 2022, Indexed to May 2004 (Value=100).
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, April 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, April 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, April 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, April 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, April 2022. Average = Mean (days), Typical = Median (days).
Regional tables
UK Asking Prices, Apr-22
| Region | Average Asking Price | Monthly % change | Annual % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £208,678 | 0.3% | 1.3% |
| North East | £182,483 | 1.4% | 5.2% |
| Yorks & The Humber | £236,283 | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| England & Wales | £353,054 | 0.9% | 6.4% |
| North West | £248,228 | 1.4% | 6.7% |
| West Midlands | £297,241 | 1.3% | 8.2% |
| East Midlands | £282,032 | 1.4% | 9.5% |
| East | £405,944 | 0.5% | 8.5% |
| Wales | £253,290 | 0.6% | 6.5% |
| Greater London | £554,434 | 0.0% | 2.4% |
| South East | £452,045 | 1.2% | 7.3% |
| South West | £378,817 | 1.4% | 9.6% |
UK Time on Market, Apr-22
| Region | Average Time on Market | Typical Time on Market | Annual % supply change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 235 | 57 | 7% |
| North East | 151 | 43 | 14% |
| Yorks & The Humber | 127 | 43 | 0% |
| England & Wales | 159 | 55 | |
| North West | 144 | 51 | 5% |
| West Midlands | 142 | 46 | -3% |
| East Midlands | 107 | 39 | 5% |
| East | 134 | 48 | -6% |
| Wales | 158 | 53 | 4% |
| Greater London | 197 | 77 | -18% |
| South East | 148 | 50 | -8% |
| South West | 138 | 43 | -3% |
The report also prints '2 year % supply change' in 1 of its 12 region boxes (England & Wales -3%), so it is not a column of this table.
From the director's commentary
"Once you understand that, you know that demand for property is not going to diminish. In fact, it may simply get stronger and stronger."
Doug Shephard, Director at Home.co.uk
Read the full April 2022 edition (PDF, 10 pages)
About the Home Asking Price Index
The Home Asking Price Index measures the change in the prices sellers ask for residential property across England, Wales and Scotland. Today it is computed every month from around half a million advertised homes and is mix-adjusted, so a change in what happens to be on the market does not move the figure; earlier editions state the sample they were built from. Because an asking price is set months before a sale completes, the index runs around five months ahead of completed-sale measures such as the UK House Price Index.
Every edition in the archive, back to October 2006, is listed on the index page. How we measure the UK property market explains the listing data behind it, and today's figures by area are on house prices and rental prices.
Text and figures above are quoted from the April 2022 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
More in What is happening to house prices: the Home guide
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