Home Asking Price Index, February 2014: price hike alert, London leads the charge
Asking prices in England and Wales rose 1.47% during February, while London prices increased 3.07% monthly and 16.67% annually, amid an 11% drop in nationwide supply.
This is the February 2014 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 13 February 2014, under the headline:
Price Hike Alert: London Leads the Charge
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
- Home prices across England and Wales leapt 1.5% over the last month, the greatest monthly price hike seen since May 2007
- Greater London home prices surge even higher: up 3.1% since January and up 16.7% year-on-year
- Typical time on market now three days less than in February 2013
- Supply of properties for sale down 11% nationwide and down 28% in Greater London since this time last year
- Prices on the rise in every English region, Scotland and Wales
Summary
As forecast by this index, home prices are 'quick out of the blocks' this year, fuelled by low mortgage rates and the Help to Buy scheme. Encouraged by a wave of optimism, vendors' asking prices are up all across mainland UK. London leads the charge with an eye-watering rise of 3.1% in just one month. Fierce competition amongst buyers for precious few properties on the market has now driven the annualised rise to a very bubbly 16.7%.
The stock drought, whilst most severe in and around the capital, continues to worsen across southern and eastern regions of England and Wales. However, perhaps tempted by positive media coverage, significantly more vendors entered the market last month in Yorkshire, the North East and the North West. Rising supply in these regions will serve to attenuate any further price rises. Despite this, overall stock levels remain severely depleted across England and Wales and the number of fresh sales stock that entered the market last month was down 11% year-on-year.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average asking price (England & Wales) | £250,339 |
| Monthly change (England & Wales) | 1.47% |
| Annual change (England & Wales) | 7.17% |
| Supply of properties for sale (nationwide, year-on-year) | -11% |
Figures are for England and Wales unless the report states otherwise, as published in the edition.
Charts from the report
Source: Home.co.uk, February 2014
Sources: Home.co.uk, February 2014
Source: Home.co.uk, February 2014
Source: Home.co.uk, February 2014
Regional tables
UK Asking Prices, Feb-14
| Region | Average Asking Price | Monthly % change | Annual % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £157,938 | 1.01% | -0.91% |
| North East | £152,050 | 0.58% | 0.01% |
| Yorks & The Humber | £167,998 | 0.14% | 0.54% |
| England & Wales | £250,339 | 1.47% | 7.17% |
| North West | £173,455 | 0.39% | 1.38% |
| West Midlands | £195,796 | 0.49% | 3.81% |
| East Midlands | £184,071 | 0.64% | 5.56% |
| East | £262,207 | 1.48% | 5.05% |
| Wales | £177,517 | 0.28% | 1.95% |
| Greater London | £424,965 | 3.07% | 16.67% |
| South East | £322,746 | 1.90% | 8.17% |
| South West | £268,150 | 0.84% | 5.58% |
From the director's commentary
"Clearly, a one-size-fits-all economic policy cannot work across such disparate markets. The North, Wales and Scotland need to see more stimuli and less austerity."
Doug Shephard, Director at Home.co.uk
Read the full February 2014 edition (PDF, 5 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 February 2014 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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