UK House Price Index August 2020 from HM Land Registry (summary)

The UK House Price Index August 2020 data shows house price changes for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the year to August 2020.

This is the fifth publication of the UK House Price Index since May 2020 following the decision to suspend the index as a result of the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on the reporting of the data.

Since August, we have been publishing the reports that were meant to be published during the period of suspension to enable this month’s data to be released today, as originally scheduled, before the disruption earlier this year. Following this report, we will be resuming the originally planned schedule. The full calendar of release dates can be found here.

The August data shows:

• on average, UK house prices have risen 0.7% since July 2020
• there has been an annual price rise of 2.5%, which makes the average property in the UK valued at £239,196
• In England house prices have risen by 0.7% since July 2020 and by 2.8% annually taking the average property value to £256,109
• In London house prices have risen by 0.9% since July 2020 and by 3.5% annually taking the average property value to £489,159
• In Wales house prices have risen by 2.1% since July 2020 and by 2.7% annually taking the average property value to £172,828
• The regional data for England indicates that:
  • The South East experienced the greatest monthly price rise, up by 1.6%
  • The North East and South West saw the lowest monthly price growth, with a movement of 0.0%
  • The East Midlands experienced the greatest annual price rise, up by 3.6%
  • The North East saw the lowest annual price growth, with a rise of 1.0%

Average price by property type for England

Average price by property type for London

Average price by property type for Wales

UK house prices increased by 2.5% in the year to August 2020, up from 2.1% in July 2020. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.7% between July 2020 and August 2020, compared with a rise of 0.3% during the same period a year earlier (July 2019 and August 2019).

The highest annual growth within the English regions was in the East Midlands where average house prices grew by 3.6%. The lowest annual growth was in the North East, where prices increased by 0.2% in the year to August 2020.

The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions. Typically, a house purchase can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach completion. The price data feeding into the August 2020 UK HPI will mainly reflect those agreements that occurred after the government measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 took hold.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in August 2020, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 81,280. This is 16.3% lower than a year ago. Between July 2020 and August 2020, UK transactions increased by 15.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

You can see the full HPI data here, including repossessions, funding and buyer type and building status.

Kindly shared by HM Land Registry