UK House Price Index: January 2019

This is a high-level summary of the UK House Price Index (HPI). For full details, including commentary, historical data tables and analytical tools, please see the main publication of the House Price Index, published today (9:30am, 20 March 2019) by HM Land Registry on the GOV.UK website.

The Office for Statistics Regulation designated the UK House Price Index as a National Statistic on 18 September 2018. A letter from the Director General for Regulation details the actions that were taken to meet the requirements as set out in the UK HPI assessment report.

House price inflation is the rate at which the prices of residential properties purchased in the UK rise and fall. The UK House Price Index (HPI) is a joint production by HM Land Registry, Land and Property Services Northern Ireland, the Office for National Statistics and Registers of Scotland.

The UK HPI includes all residential properties purchased for market value in the UK. However, as sales only appear in the UK HPI once the purchases have been registered, there can be a delay before transactions feed into the index. As such, caution is advised when interpreting price changes in the most recent periods as they can be revised. Further information is provided in our revision policy.

Average house prices in the UK increased by 1.7% in the year to January 2019, down from 2.2% in December 2018 (Figure 1). This is the lowest annual rate since June 2013 when it was 1.5%. Over the past two and a half years, there has been a slowdown in UK house price growth, driven mainly by a slowdown in the south and east of England.

The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices fell by 1.6% over the year to January 2019, down from a decrease of 0.7% in December 2018. This was followed by the East of England where prices fell 0.2% over the year.

The average UK house price was £228,000 in January 2019. This is £4,000 higher than the same period a year ago (January 2018) (Figure 2). On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.8% between December 2018 and January 2019, compared with a decrease of 0.3% in average prices during the same period a year earlier (December 2017 and January 2018). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.2% between December 2018 and January 2019 (series available in data downloads).

The average house price in England is £245,000, an increase of 1.5% over the year to January 2019, down from 1.9% in December 2018. House prices in Scotland grew at a slower rate than other countries of the UK, increasing by 1.3% in the year to January 2019, down from 2.0% in the year to December 2018, with the average house price in Scotland now £149,000.

House price growth was strongest in Wales, increasing by 4.6% in the year to January 2019 with the average house price at £160,000. This continues to be driven by strong house price growth in south east Wales, likely linked to the abolition of the Severn Bridge tolls. Northern Ireland house prices increased by 5.5% over the year to Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2018. Northern Ireland remains the cheapest UK country to purchase a property in, with the average house price at £137,000 (Figure 3).

House prices in southern England (London, East of England, South East and South West) fell by 0.2% in the year to January 2019, compared with growth of 4.2% in the Midlands and 2.8% in northern England (North East, North West, and Yorkshire and The Humber) (Figure 4). While the annual growth rates of the Midlands and the north have slowed slightly over the past three years, southern England has witnessed a sustained slowdown, with prices in January 2019 falling over the year.

At a regional level (Figure 5), the East Midlands showed the highest annual growth, with prices increasing by 4.4% in the year to January 2019. This was followed by the West Midlands (4.0%).

The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices fell by 1.6% over the year to January 2019, down from a fall of 0.7% in December 2018. This was followed by the East of England where prices fell 0.2% over the year, its first fall over the year since October 2011.

While London house prices are falling over the year, the area remains the most expensive place to purchase a property at an average of £472,000, followed by the South East and the East of England, at £321,000 and £288,000 respectively. The North East continues to have the lowest average house price at £125,000 and is the only English region yet to surpass its pre-economic downturn peak (Figure 6).

Data at the local authority level and other breakdowns can be found in the main publication of the UK House Price Index published by HM Land Registry on GOV.UK.

Details of the methodology used to calculate the UK House Price Index (UK HPI) can be found on the guidance page of the main release published by HM Land Registry on GOV.UK.

The UK House Price Index (HPI) Quality and Methodology Information report contains important information on:

• the strengths and limitations of the data and how it compares with related data

• uses and users of the data

• how the output was created

• the quality of the output including the accuracy of the data