LAND REGISTRY DATA: AUGUST 2015 (released 28 September 2015)

The August 2015 Land Registry data showed a monthly increase in average house prices across England and Wales of 0.5 per cent. In London prices increased by 1.7 per cent, exceeding all other regions; the East Midlands, Yorkshire & The Humber, and the North West experienced falls, the greatest being the North West at minus 1.4 per cent.

The East once again showed the highest annual change in prices at 8.4 per cent, followed by the South East at 7.6 per cent, London at 6.6 per cent and the South West at 5.4 per cent. The North West saw the lowest annual change at 0.2 per cent but no region experienced a fall. The overall annual price change now stands at 4.2 per cent, making the average house price in England & Wales £184,682 and in London £493,026. By property type, semi-detached properties showed the highest annual increase at 4.7 per cent; the lowest was seen in terraced properties at 3.7 per cent.

In greater detail, 14 counties and unitary authorities saw an annual fall in prices, the greatest being Darlington at minus 6.2 per cent; Reading again experienced the highest annual rise at 14.6 per cent. Both Reading and Southend-on-Sea saw the strongest monthly growth with an increase of 2.4 per cent, while Merthyr Tydfil had the most significant monthly drop at minus 3.4 per cent. Nine counties and unitary authorities saw no monthly price change.

Of the metropolitan districts, Sandwell showed the largest annual price increase at 9.8 per cent; five saw a fall, the greatest being Bradford again at minus 2.4 per cent. Bolton saw the highest monthly price increase at 1.6 per cent, while ten saw a drop, the largest again being Wolverhampton at minus 2.0 per cent.

Of the London boroughs, Newham saw the highest annual price rise at 15.5 per cent, while Hammersmith & Fulham and Camden experienced falls at minus 0.3 per cent and minus 1.7 per cent respectively. On a monthly basis, Barking & Dagenham showed the highest increase at 2.2 per cent, while Kensington & Chelsea saw the biggest fall with a movement of minus 1.1 per cent.

The volume of properties sold in June 2015 was 13 per cent lower than a year earlier in England and Wales and 19 per cent lower in London; falls were seen across nearly all price brackets. Properties sold for more than £1 million across England and Wales as a whole fell by 17 per cent and in London by 22 per cent over the same period.

Month on month, the total number of properties sold across England and Wales increased by 7.3 per cent from 65,619 in May to 70,404 in June – chiefly in properties valued above £250,000. The number of property transactions from March 2015 to June 2015 averaged 65,550 per month, compared to 73,985 over the same period a year earlier.