Midlands leads the HPI into 2018

The UK House Price Index has revealed that prices grew by 5.1% in the year to November 2017, showing a 0.3 percentage point fall from the previous month.

The figures show that the number of seasonally adjusted transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater rose by 7.1% in the year to November 2017. Between October 2017 and November 2017, transactions increased by 0.6%.

Regionally, the Midlands is proving to be the fastest grower, with the West Midlands showing the largest annual price growth at 7.2%, up from 7.1% in October 2017, while neighbouring East Midlands rose to 6.4%. At the other end of the scale, both London and the North East regions showed the slowest annual growth of all UK regions, with just 2.3%. For over a year now, the annual growth in London has remained below the UK average.

Commenting on the ONS house price figures out today, Richard Snook, senior economist, PwC, said: “In the first housing release of 2018, data from the ONS and Land Registry show a fairly benign picture in the market.

“House price inflation dipped to 5.1% in the year to November, but there was a big upward revision to the October data from 4.5% to 5.4% due in part, to a change in how the figures are calculated. Taken together, these alter the recent story from one of a deteriorating market, to one that appears relatively stable. The price of a typical UK house was £226,100 in November 2017, from £225,700 in October.

“Continuing the recent regional trend, London is the weakest performer. House prices have now declined for four consecutive months, from the high of £490,000 in July to £482,000 in November. But due to growth earlier in the year prices are still 2.3% higher than twelve months ago.”

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