Home Asking Price Index, August 2012: London property takes Olympic gold
Asking prices in England and Wales stayed flat this month, while Greater London's average price rose 4.3% year on year, the strongest regional performance.
This is the August 2012 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 13 August 2012, under the headline:
London Property Takes Olympic Gold
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
- Asking prices for homes on the market in England and Wales have finally stalled after a solid rising trend (no change since last month).
- The average asking price in Greater London has increased 4.3% over the last year, making it the UK's best performing region.
- Asking prices fell in 5 English regions, Scotland and Wales over the last month. However, prices rose further in both Greater London and the South West, while no change was observed for the West Midlands and the North West.
- Supply to market of properties for sale up 2% year-on-year.
- Annual change in asking prices: +2.0%
- 6-month change: +2.1%
Summary
UK property market remains bi-polar. The strong performance of the London market is currently balanced by the poor performance of several regions (mainly in the North). Greater London, the South East and East Anglia are currently registering year-on-year gains over and above the official rate of inflation (RPI ex. housing). By contrast average investment in all other English regions, Wales and Scotland is rewarded by negative real capital gains.
The southern regions, led by London (with asking prices at a four year high), also continue to perform well in terms of marketing times. Government stimulus, Olympic spending and foreign investment have all contributed to buoy these faster moving property markets. By contrast it typically requires 56 days longer to market a home in the North East than for the UK overall.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| England & Wales average asking price | £232,398 |
| Annual change in asking prices | +2.0% |
| 6-month change in asking prices | +2.1% |
| Supply to market year-on-year | +2% |
| Mean time on market | 208 days |
| Typical (median) time on market | 111 days |
| HAPI index for England and Wales | 99.3 |
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 asking prices for August 2012, showing gains and losses since February 2012 and current
| Current average price | 6-month change | Median ToM (days) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greater London | £355,430 | +3.4% | 85 |
| South West | £256,124 | +2.8% | 100 |
| East Anglia | £249,163 | +2.4% | 95 |
| South East | £294,494 | +2.1% | 88 |
| East Midlands | £175,271 | +1.8% | 115 |
| Wales | £173,721 | +1.2% | 151 |
| North East | £152,100 | +1.2% | 167 |
| West Midlands | £188,430 | +1.0% | 122 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | £168,112 | +1.0% | 143 |
| Scotland | £160,142 | +1.0% | 126 |
| North West | £173,461 | +0.7% | 140 |
| England & Wales | £232,398 | +2.1% | 111 |
typical time on market.
Read the full August 2012 edition (PDF, 13 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 2012 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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