Home Asking Price Index, October 2008: 'Bail-out' plans offer hope to sellers
Asking prices in England and Wales fell 0.1% during September and remain 2.1% lower than a year earlier, despite renewed hope from government bank rescue plans.
This is the October 2008 edition of the Home Asking Price Index, released on 13 October 2008, under the headline:
'Bail-out' Plans Offer Hope to Sellers
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 fell by just 0.1% in the last month.
- Monthly price falls were observed in 5 out of 9 English regions and in Wales.
- Asking Prices across England and Wales have fallen 2.1% since October 07.
- 2 in 9 homes on the UK market had their Asking Prices cut in September.
- Scottish asking prices show upturn as home sellers switch from 'Offers Over' to 'Fixed Price' selling.
Summary
The last month has been a truly extraordinary one for the UK housing market. The UK government pledged up to £500 billion to buy shares in UK banks, extend loans and underwrite inter-bank loans. The Bank of England (BoE), meanwhile, took the unprecedented step of cutting the base rate by 0.5% in concert with several other central banks including the US Fed and the ECB. An immediate effect of these dramatic moves has been to raise hopes amongst home sellers that UK house prices may be spared further falls.
Market sentiment across all regions of England, Wales and Scotland, whilst at a low ebb, appears to have stabilised over the last month in view of concerted efforts to get the mortgage market moving again. However, asking prices of homes on the market continue to be cut (187,000 in September), albeit by a smaller amount on average than in August. If the recent measures by the UK Government and the BoE fail to improve the availability of mortgages over the coming months, deeper cuts in asking prices are indeed inevitable.
Key figures
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average asking price (England & Wales) | £250,710 |
| Monthly change in asking prices | -0.1% |
| Annual (year-on-year) change | -2.1% |
| HAPI index (England & Wales) | 102.8 |
| Homes with price cuts in September | 187,000 |
| Proportion of homes with price cuts | 2 in 9 |
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 | YoY change | |
|---|---|---|
| Greater London | £344,138 | -0.2% |
| Wales | £192,058 | -0.3% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | £178,991 | -0.6% |
| South West | £264,629 | -2.1% |
| East Anglia | £258,462 | -2.1% |
| North West | £184,793 | -3.4% |
| Scotland | £178,592 | -3.7% |
| North East | £165,691 | -3.8% |
| South East | £282,798 | -3.9% |
| West Midlands | £201,216 | -5.0% |
| East Midlands | £181,357 | -5.1% |
Regional Asking Prices for October 2008, showing YoY losses.
Read the full October 2008 edition (PDF, 9 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 2008 edition as published, with punctuation normalised for the web, and are not revised. Later editions may restate them.
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