Home Asking Price Index, February 2022: market pace quickens while stock shows small uptick
Asking prices across England and Wales rose 0.1% in February, with annual growth at 7.0%, while unsold stock increased for the first time since October 2020.
This is the February 2022 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 16 February 2022, under the headline:
Market Pace Quickens While Stock Shows Small Uptick
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 market is picking up momentum earlier than usual this year with the Typical Time on Market for unsold property in England and Wales dropping to 87 days (median), 24 days less than in February 2021.
- The total stock of property for sale in England and Wales ticked up this month for the first time since October 2020, adding 7,257 properties to the record low of 222,050 last month.
- Rampant inflation is worsening and making real home price growth increasingly negative overall. We have yet to see real growth bottom out.
- Monthly supply of new sales listings has risen slightly across the UK; up 4% compared to the month of January 2021, although Greater London shows a contraction.
- Asking prices across England and Wales show a marginal rise of 0.1% since January, while the nominal annualised average growth nudged up to 7.0%. Prices in the North West and East are the most bullish in England, rising 0.8% in each region during the last month, while Welsh prices jumped 1.1%.
Summary
The rental sector is also dominated by scarcity. The total stock of available properties to let has fallen a massive 58% since February 2019. This lack of rental stock has been driving up rents across the country, as tenants increasingly compete for what little stock is available. Greater London is now the main driver of rental inflation overall, as tenants flock back to the capital post-COVID restrictions and short-term lettings recover their popularity. Rental affordability is looking stretched in all regions, including London, but due to supply constraints, we do not expect significant rent falls this year. More likely is a period of consolidation at these higher levels.
The annualised mix-adjusted average asking price growth across England and Wales has nudged up to +7.0% this month; in February 2021, the annualised rate of increase of home prices was 4.5%.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly change in asking prices (England & Wales) | +0.1% |
| Annual asking price growth (England & Wales) | +7.0% |
| Typical Time on Market (England & Wales) | 87 days |
| Total unsold stock last month (England & Wales) | 222,050 |
| Increase in unsold stock this month (England & Wales) | +7,257 properties |
| Monthly supply of new sales listings (UK) | +4% |
| Annual growth in average asking rent (UK) | +7.3% |
| Fall in rental stock since Feb 2019 (UK) | -58% |
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, February 2022, Indexed to May 2004 (Value=100).
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, February 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, February 2022
Source: ONS and Home.co.uk (RPI ex. housing for January and February 2022 are our estimates).
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, February 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, February 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, February 2022
Source: Home.co.uk Asking Price Index, February 2022. Average = Mean (days), Typical = Median (days).
Regional tables
UK Asking Prices, Feb-22
| Region | Average Asking Price | Monthly % change | Annual % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £205,543 | 0.0% | 2.0% |
| North East | £176,680 | 0.5% | 3.1% |
| Yorks & The Humber | £227,414 | 0.0% | 3.2% |
| England & Wales | £343,764 | 0.1% | 7.0% |
| North West | £240,854 | 0.8% | 6.8% |
| West Midlands | £286,730 | -0.6% | 8.1% |
| East Midlands | £275,351 | -0.4% | 10.5% |
| East | £396,271 | 0.8% | 10.7% |
| Wales | £248,566 | 1.1% | 8.2% |
| Greater London | £551,472 | -0.3% | 3.5% |
| South East | £436,496 | 0.2% | 7.9% |
| South West | £362,148 | 0.1% | 9.4% |
UK Time on Market, Feb-22
| Region | Average Time on Market | Typical Time on Market | 12 month supply change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 259 | 104 | 10% |
| North East | 183 | 80 | 10% |
| Yorks & The Humber | 148 | 72 | 3% |
| England & Wales | 178 | 87 | 4% |
| North West | 161 | 79 | 5% |
| West Midlands | 161 | 78 | 3% |
| East Midlands | 127 | 64 | 8% |
| East | 151 | 75 | 9% |
| Wales | 179 | 89 | 2% |
| Greater London | 210 | 112 | -5% |
| South East | 167 | 79 | 4% |
| South West | 156 | 71 | 1% |
From the director's commentary
"The take-home message is that, in an economy such as ours that is addicted to cheap credit, even a small tightening of monetary policy can have disastrous results."
Doug Shephard, Director at Home.co.uk
Read the full February 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 February 2022 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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