UK house prices creep up across the board while London continues to slow

Leading lettings and sales agent, Benham and Reeves, has released the latest of its very own quarterly house price index based on data from the top four existing indices, looking at where the average house price sits and how the gap between buyer and seller expectation and actual sales has changed.

The Benham and Reeves house price index combines data from the four leading industry indices to give a singular figure of how the UK market is moving based on both buyer and seller sentiment, as well as looking at the difference in these indices and what they reveal about the state of the current market.

Current property values

The latest index from Benham and Reeves shows that the current overall average UK house price is sitting at £252,487 having increased by 0.3% on the previous quarter, up by 0.9% on an annual basis.

In London, the average property value climbs to £513,180, up 0.2% on the previous quarter although values in the capital are still down -0.8% on an annual basis.

Sellers remain over expectant

The latest quarterly data from Nationwide and Halifax shows that the amount UK buyers are committing to borrowing has fallen -0.7% to an average of £224,490.

Tough market conditions have also caused the average asking price expected by UK home sellers to fall quarter to quarter, although the drop has been more marginal at -0.4% and at £306,321, the average UK asking price is still some 36.5% higher than the mortgage approval sum.

This over expectation is also evident when comparing asking prices to sold prices, with the current average sold price coming in at £234,075, -23.6% lower than the current average asking price, although sales prices themselves have crept up 2.1% on the previous quarter.

A tougher time for the London market means this gap between seller expectation and market reality is smaller, although the difference between the average price approved by Nationwide and Halifax and the average asking price is still at 33.1%, while sold prices in the capital are still some -21.9% lower than the current average asking price. Although, again, sold prices have increased by 2.6% quarter to quarter.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“An over-inflated asking price is a common occurrence in the market and one often driven by a seller’s emotions coupled with the tendency for an agent to overvalue in order to win business.

However, with political uncertainty causing a large degree of market turmoil, we’ve seen many sellers lower their asking price expectations in order to secure a sale. As a result, there has been a slight uplift in sold prices as buyers agree to meet in the middle, however, the deficit between what we believe our homes are worth and what buyers are actually paying remains rather large.

As we enter a new decade we may see this gap continue to close, but the likelihood is that as market activity heightens we will once again see asking prices increase as buyer activity returns and UK home sellers chance their arm at a higher price point.”

Benham and Reeves House Price Index
UK
Year	Quarter	Average House Price	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
2018	Q1	£245,074	–	–
	Q2	£248,245	1.3%	–
	Q3	£250,244	0.8%	–
	Q4	£248,513	-0.7%	–
2019	Q1	£247,463	-0.4%	1.0%
	Q2	£251,682	1.7%	1.4%
	Q3	£252,487	0.3%	0.9%

Benham and Reeves House Price Index
London
Year	Quarter	Average House Price	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
2018	Q1	£519,238	–	–
	Q2	£520,412	0.2%	–
	Q3	£517,059	-0.6%	–
	Q4	£514,976	-0.4%	–
2019	Q1	£504,731	-2.0%	-2.8%
	Q2	£512,193	1.5%	-1.6%
	Q3	£513,180	0.2%	-0.8%

UK
Year	Quarter	Mortgage Approvals Price	Difference	Asking Price	Difference	Sold Price
2018	Q1	£218,231	-27.4%	£300,684	-25.4%	£224,319
2018	Q2	£219,116	40.4%	£307,745	-26.3%	£226,869
2018	Q3	£221,959	37.4%	£305,060	-24.1%	£231,438
2018	Q4	£220,522	37.1%	£302,239	-23.8%	£230,274
2019	Q1	£221,578	35.6%	£300,481	-24.3%	£227,608
2019	Q2	£225,987	36.2%	£307,691	-25.5%	£229,276
2019	Q3	£224,490	36.5%	£306,321	-23.6%	£234,075


London
Year	Quarter	Mortgage Approvals Price	Difference	Asking Price	Difference	Sold Price
2018	Q1	£473,776	30.8%	£619,905	-23.1%	£476,653
2018	Q2	£468,845	34.0%	£628,174	-23.8%	£478,555
2018	Q3	£468,544	31.2%	£614,537	-21.9%	£480,090
2018	Q4	£466,988	31.5%	£614,044	-22.4%	£476,273
2019	Q1	£455,594	32.8%	£605,178	-22.9%	£466,356
2019	Q2	£465,722	32.7%	£618,232	-24.5%	£466,683
2019	Q3	£460,686	33.1%	£612,967	-21.9%	£478,594

Mortgage Approvals Average House Price*
Year	Quarter	UK		London
Year	Quarter	Average House Price	Difference	Average House Price	Difference
2018	Q1	£218,231		£473,776
2018	Q2	£219,116	0.4%	£468,845	-1.0%
2018	Q3	£221,959	1.3%	£468,544	-0.1%
2018	Q4	£220,522	-0.6%	£466,988	-0.3%
2019	Q1	£221,578	0.5%	£455,594	-2.4%
2019	Q2	£225,987	2.0%	£465,722	2.2%
2019	Q3	£224,490	-0.7%	£460,686	-1.1%
*Based on mortgage approval house price data from Halifax and Nationwide

Average Asking Price*
Year	Quarter	UK		London
Year	Quarter	Average House Price	Difference	Average House Price	Difference
2018	Q1	£300,684		£619,905
2018	Q2	£307,745	2.3%	£628,174	1.3%
2018	Q3	£305,060	-0.9%	£614,537	-2.2%
2018	Q4	£302,239	-0.9%	£614,044	-0.1%
2019	Q1	£300,481	-0.6%	£605,178	-1.4%
2019	Q2	£307,691	2.4%	£618,232	2.2%
2019	Q3	£306,321	-0.4%	£612,967	-0.9%
*Based on asking price data from Rightmove’s House Price Index

Average Sold Price*
Year	Quarter	UK		London
Year	Quarter	Average House Price	Difference	Average House Price	Difference
2018	Q1	£224,319		£476,653
2018	Q2	£226,869	1.1%	£478,555	0.4%
2018	Q3	£231,438	2.0%	£480,090	0.3%
2018	Q4	£230,274	-0.5%	£476,273	-0.8%
2019	Q1	£227,608	-1.2%	£466,356	-2.1%
2019	Q2	£229,276	0.7%	£466,683	0.1%
2019	Q3	£234,075	2.1%	£478,594	2.6%
*Based on sold price data from the Land Registry House Price Index

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