Home Asking Price Index, October 2006: asking prices stable and rising
Asking prices in England and Wales rose 0.5% during the month but remained 0.6% lower than a year earlier.
This is the October 2006 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 12 October 2006, under the headline:
Asking Prices Stable and Rising
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 in England and Wales rose this month by 0.5%.
- Asking Prices in England and Wales fell 0.6% over the last year (ca. 3.1% below the CPI, ca. 4.0% below the RPI and ca. 4.3% below the AEI).
- Greater London Asking Prices rose by 0.4% this month.
Summary
Asking prices for homes, currently on the market, in England and Wales moved up again this month, by 0.5%. Despite a rise in interest rates, confidence amongst sellers of residential property has firmed up over recent months. The sustained market correction in asking prices, noted in previous reports, has now slowed further to give a 12 month change of just -0.6%. The more recent national average trend, over the last six months, indicates a consolidating market. This new phase of asking price stability has been brought about through a combination of marginal price increases in market entrants and reduced discounting activity with respect to prices of houses already on the market.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monthly change in asking prices | +0.5% |
| Annual change in asking prices | -0.6% |
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 Index based on Weighted Arithmetic Mean of Regional House Prices
Source: HM Land Registry
Regional tables
Regional average asking prices for October 06, showing gains and losses over the last
| Scotland | £150,469 | +11.5% |
| Wales | £192,306 | +3.6% |
| South West | £259,689 | +2.5% |
| West Midlands | £199,309 | +0.7% |
| Greater London | £308,503 | +0.6% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | £169,378 | -0.1% |
| East Midlands | £185,611 | -1.9% |
| South East | £270,796 | -2.0% |
| North West | £185,724 | -2.6% |
| East Anglia | £253,140 | -2.7% |
| North | £165,380 | -4.8% |
year.
Read the full October 2006 edition (PDF, 8 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 October 2006 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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