HM Land Registry
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UK House Price Index for May 2020

The UK HPI shows house price changes for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We are working to a provisional publication schedule that will see us publish interim releases with a view to resuming normal publication in October with the publication of the August 2020 index.

The May data shows:

  • on average, house prices have risen by 0.3% since April 2020
  • there has been an annual price rise of 2.9%, which makes the average property in the UK valued at £235,673

England

In England, the May data shows on average, house prices have risen by 0.2% since April 2020. The annual price rise of 2.9% takes the average property value to £251,973.

The regional data for England indicates that:

  • the North East experienced the greatest monthly price rise, up by 5.3%
  • London saw the most significant monthly price fall, down by 1.2%
  • Yorkshire and The Humber experienced the greatest annual price rise, up by 4.9%
  • the North East saw the lowest annual price growth, with a rise of 0.7%

Price change by region for England

Region Average price May 2020 Monthly change % since April 2020
East Midlands -0.7 £197,505
East of England -1.0 £290,621
London -1.2 £479,018
North East 5.3 £134,545
North West 0.3 £168,261
South East -1.1 £324,659
South West -0.4 £261,006
West Midlands 1.5 £203,658
Yorkshire and the Humber 3.1 £170,198

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in March 2020 was in the East of England.

The highest number of repossession sales in March 2020 was in the North West.

Repossession sales March 2020
East Midlands 36
East of England 16
London 55
North East 74
North West 124
South East 48
South West 40
West Midlands 43
Yorkshire and The Humber 75
England 511

Average price by property type for England

Property type May 2020 May 2019 Difference %
Detached £383,295 £371,062 3.3
Semi-detached £238,325 £230,200 3.5
Terraced £202,943 £199,088 1.9
Flat/maisonette £227,809 £221,767 2.7
All £251,973 £244,928 2.9

Funding and buyer status for England

Transaction type Average price May 2020 Annual price change % since May 2019 Monthly price change % since April 2020
Cash £235,898 2.3 0.2
Mortgage £259,991 3.1 0.2
First-time buyer £211,404 2.9 0.4
Former owner occupier £285,938 2.9 0.0

Building status for England

Building status* Average price March 2020 Annual price change % since March 2019 Monthly price change % since February 2020
New build £318,639 5.4 0.9
Existing resold property £245,475 2.7 0.8

*Figures for the two most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

London

London shows, on average, house prices have fallen by 1.2% since April 2020. An annual price rise of 3.3% takes the average property value to £479,018.

Average price by property type for London

Property type May 2020 May 2019 Difference %
Detached £883,878 £877,723 0.7
Semi-detached £582,448 £567,219 2.7
Terraced £498,321 £486,645 2.4
Flat/maisonette £421,519 £404,483 4.2
All £479,018 £463,628 3.3

Funding and buyer status for London

Transaction type Average price May 2020 Annual price change % since May 2019 Monthly price change %since April 2020
Cash £499,468 2.7 -2.1
Mortgage £472,547 3.5 -0.9
First-time buyer £419,583 3.6 -0.9
Former owner occupier £539,584 2.9 -1.4

Building status for London

Building status* Average price March 2020 Annual price change % since March 2019 Monthly price change % since February 2020
New build £513,564 6.4 1.1
Existing resold property £481,750 4.1 1.4

*Figures for the two most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have risen by 1.7% since April 2020. An annual price rise of 4.8% takes the average property value to £169,436.

There were 46 repossession sales for Wales in March 2020.

Average price by property type for Wales

Property type May 2020 May 2019 Difference %
Detached £254,763 £243,408 4.7
Semi-detached £164,574 £156,247 5.3
Terraced £131,328 £125,510 4.6
Flat/maisonette £118,529 £113,548 4.4
All £169,436 £161,628 4.8

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Transaction type Average price May 2020 Annual price change % since May 2019 Monthly price change % since April 2020
Cash £163,726 4.3 1.6
Mortgage £172,784 5.1 1.8
First-time buyer £146,439 4.9 1.8
Former owner occupier £196,187 4.8 1.7

Building status for Wales

Building status* Average price March 2020 Annual price change % since March 2019 Monthly price change % since February 2020
New build £227,665 6.7 0.3
Existing resold property £164,341 4.8 0.8

*Figures for the two most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Access the full UK HPI

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

UK house prices increased by 2.9% in the year to May 2020, up from 2.7% in April 2020. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.3% between April 2020 and May 2020, compared with a rise of 0.1% during the same period a year earlier (April 2019 and May 2019).

The UK Property Transactions Statistics for May 2020 showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 48,130. This is 49.9% lower than a year ago. Between April 2020 and May 2020, transactions increased by 14.5%.

House price growth was strongest in Wales where prices increased by 4.8% over the year to May 2020. The highest annual growth within the English regions was in Yorkshire and The Humber where average house prices grew by 4.9%. The lowest annual growth was in the East of England, where prices increased by 0.7% over the year to May 2020.

See the economic statement.

Background

  1. The UK House Price Index (HPI) is published on the second or third Wednesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. The June 2020 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 16 September 2020. See calendar of release dates.

Channel website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

Original article link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-house-price-index-for-may-2020

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