Price Index

09/04/2008 Nationwide House Price Index
04/02/2008 February's House Price Inflation
04/02/2008 December Worst Month Since 1992
01/02/2008 January 2008 House Price Index
09/01/2008 November House Price Index
24/10/2007 September House Price Index
19/09/2007 Mortgage Markets
12/09/2007 House Price Inflation Rising
03/09/2007 August House Price
08/08/2007 House Price up 40% by 2012
30/07/2007 House price Slow
16/07/2007 House price index: Growth slowing
19/06/2007 House prices 'increase fastest in London'
21/05/2007 Annual House Price Growth
09/05/2007 Hips effect 'could push up house prices'
08/05/2007 House prices 'to reach £200k by end of 2008'
05/05/2007 Loft Conversation 'can boost property prices.
26/04/2007 Property asking price up 3.6% in a month
24/04/2007 Britain's house price up 8.1%
22/04/2007 'Record-breaking' house price growth for Northern Ireland
20/04/2007 'Annual house price inflation climbs to 11.1%'

House price fall 'unlikely'

Experts at the Wriglesworth Consultancy’s second annual Great Housing Debate have predicted that a decline in UK house prices is unlikely to be evidenced in the coming future.

They speculated that prices will instead remain relatively high for the time being.

Steady inflation in prices has created a climate in which properties remain expensive and most consumers expect prices to continue in this vein into 2007. Research from Propertyfinder.com shows that over 81 per cent of Brits share this view.

High property prices are fuelling a seller's market and it is thought that many potential buyers are postponing property purchase until a later date, for this reason.

Instead, many younger professionals are opting to rent, creating strong tenant demand in the buy-to-let sector. As such, buy-to-let property investors can anticipate strong yields and positive returns in the future, while also able to generate profit by selling some of their portfolio when prices are high.

Research from Rightmove reveals that the average asking price for properties in England and Wales has increased by over £3,381 from February to March.

London house price rises 'strongest for 28 years'

Strong demand from investors and homebuyers has seen the price of property in central London rise at its strongest rate in 28 years, it has been claimed.

According to Knight Frank's Prime Central London House Price Index, house prices in the area grew by 31 per cent in the year to February, potentially good news for buy-to-let investors with property there.

Significant demand pressures and low supply are pushing up housing value in the capital, the property consultancy said, underpinned by both a strong bonus season in the City and international demand.

The organisation predicts that due to people moving less frequently and the average age of purchasers increasing, property shortages will continue to affect the market, something likely to be reinforced when home information packs (Hips) are introduced later in the year.
Head of Knight Frank residential research Liam Bailey said: "Our forecast that prices in prime central London will grow by 12 per cent this year could well be an underestimate.

"Prices have already moved higher by 5.6 per cent in the first two months of the year and we expect that the next two to three months will see the strong market conditions remaining."

High demand for London property is reflected in recent Hamptons International figures showing there are 38 per cent more registered buyers in the market in 2007 than at the same time last year, but available properties are down 50 per cent.

House prices pick up pace in February

Property values rose at their fastest pace in February since May 2004, new data shows.

The monthly housing market survey from Hometrack revealed a rise of 0.7 per cent in the average price of a property in England and Wales, good news for buy-to-let investors seeking growth in their portfolio's value.

House price rises in February mean that the average price is now 6.4 per cent higher than at the same time last year.

The report showed that house prices rose in 42 per cent of the country last month, although growth was mainly centred on London and the south-east of England, with property values rising just 0.1 per cent in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Wales.

Hometrack director of research Richard Donnell said that house prices were being pushed up by a lack of supply relative to demand, something that would likely drive them up even further in future, as there was "no end in sight".

He commented: "Below average levels of property transactions - as a proportion of overall housing stock - are also acting as a support to prices.

"As a result we are seeing property transactions, and pricing being set by those who can afford to move – that is to say existing owner occupiers, buy-to-let investors and the growing number of 'assisted' first-time buyers."

The Halifax bank and Nationwide building society produce the best-known house price index reports – and between them they give us plenty of figures to consider. Nationwide often issues its figures on the final day of the month in question, while Halifax figures come out around a week later. Halifax also issues quarterly regional statistics and breaks its figures down so you can see how different types of property and buyer are faring – from terraces or flats to first-time buyers and older owners. Nationwide reckons its figures go back the furthest, to 1946 in some cases, while Halifax says it is the only company to produce monthly, national statistics since 1983.

What can be interesting is that several times a year the two indices tend to produce very different results. At the start of 2007, for example, the Nationwide figures for January saw a very low 0.3 per cent rise when Halifax recorded a far healthier 1.3 per cent increase. The growth gaps arise because both companies look at values and tweak their results in slightly different ways – see the next section about seasonal-adjustments. Both lenders base their research on mortgage approval figures, rather than completion figures, though they say the number of deals that fall down between the two points is too small to affect the statistics. Some other indices are based on final sales prices and completed transactions, though these bring problems of their own – see later.

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