Home Asking Price Index, August 2009: signs of a north-south divide?
England and Wales asking prices fell 0.3% this month, with typical time on market rising to 135 days amid a widening north-south divide.
This is the August 2009 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 12 August 2009, under the headline:
Signs of a North-South Divide?
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
- The mix-adjusted average Asking Price for homes on the market in England and Wales fell by 0.3% this month.
- Monthly falls were observed in 6 out of 9 English regions and in Scotland.
- Asking Prices in England and Wales have remained static in the last quarter.
- Wales saw an increase in the mix-adjusted average Asking Price for homes this month of 0.3% but a fall over the past six months of 1.5%.
Summary
Only last month we commented that the gains which were being seen may be 'unjustified and easily lost': the figures this month show clearly that the current housing market is far from confident, with a fall of 0.3% in the mix-adjusted average asking price in England & Wales over the past month and no gain or loss over the past 3 months. Although buyer interest in the UK housing market is increasing, there are still falls in the mix-adjusted asking price of homes in many regions of England and in Scotland.
A north-south divide is beginning to appear when figures are compared for the past six months, with the South East, South West and Greater London showing increases in excess of 1.5% whilst the remaining areas show either very weak growth or downward movement.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Mix-adjusted average asking price | £241,971 |
| Monthly change | -0.3% |
| Annual change | -4.5% |
| Typical Time on Market | 135 days |
| Average Time on Market | 217 days |
| England & Wales 6 month change | 0.5% |
| HAPI index | 99.2 |
Figures are for England and Wales unless the report states otherwise, as published in the edition.
Charts from the report
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices. [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Indices based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Laspeyres Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices [May04 = 100]
Source: HM Land Registry
Regional tables
Regional Housing Markets
| Current average price | 6 month change | |
|---|---|---|
| South East | £274,252 | 2.2% |
| South West | £257,278 | 2.1% |
| Greater London | £333,643 | 1.6% |
| West Midlands | £194,281 | 0.2% |
| East Anglia | £244,750 | 0.0% |
| East Midlands | £172,884 | -0.3% |
| North West | £179,218 | -0.4% |
| Wales | £184,333 | -1.5% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | £172,494 | -1.6% |
| North East | £160,661 | -1.8% |
| Scotland | £162,409 | -6.0% |
Regional Asking Prices for August 2009, showing gains and losses since February 2009.
Read the full August 2009 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 August 2009 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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