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House Price Index - February 2007

Published	16 April 2007

The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in February 2007 stood at £205,102, down from £205,399 in January 2007 (not seasonally adjusted).

Download this release as a PDF: House Price Index February 2007. 

• The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in February 2007 stood at £205,102, down from £205,399 in January 2007 (not seasonally adjusted).
• UK annual house price inflation in February 2007 was 12.1 per cent, up from 10.9 per cent in January 2007. Annual house price inflation in London was 16.7 per cent in February, up from 13.2 per cent in January.
• The UK annual house price inflation rate for the 3 months to February was 11.0 per cent and 13.9 per cent in London.

Figure 1: UK annual house price inflation (all dwellings)

 

UK annual house price inflation (all dwellings)

		UK		London		UK
		All dwellings		All dwellings		All dwellings
		Index	% change	Index	% change	£
		Feb 02 = 100	over 12 months	Feb 02 = 100	over 12 months
			Not seasonally adjusted
2006	Sep	166.3	8.0	146.4	9.0	198,552
	Oct	165.6	8.5	145.4	10.4	197,740
	Nov	166.9	8.8	146.7	9.9	199,238
	Dec	168.5	9.9	149.5	11.8	201,090
2007	Jan	172.0	10.9	154.1	13.2	205,399
	Feb	171.7	12.1	154.6	16.7	205,102

House price inflation: regional

The UK house price inflation rate rose from 10.9 per cent in January 2007 to 12.1 per cent in February 2007. Between January and February there was a fall of 0.1 per cent in the prices index of properties bought compared with a larger fall of 1.2 per cent over the same period last year resulting in an increase in the inflation rate.

Figure 2: House price inflation by country

12-month percentage change

The small fall in UK prices between January and February can be attributed to falls in average prices for bungalows (1.1 per cent), terraced houses and detached houses (both 0.5 per cent) only partly offset by a rise in the price of flats (0.9 per cent) and semi-detached houses (0.1 per cent).

All the home countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, saw increases in inflation in February 2007. The inflation rate in England rose from 9.9 per cent in January to 11.0 per cent in February; the inflation rate in Scotland rose from 15.9 per cent to 16.6 per cent; in Wales the rate rose from 10.2 per cent to 11.1 per cent; in Northern Ireland the rate rose from 42.5 per cent to 47.5 per cent.

House price inflation rose in five of the English regions and fell in four regions. The highest inflation rate was in London (16.7 percent) followed by the East (12.0 per cent), South East (10.8 per cent), South West (9.5 per cent) and North East (9.4 per cent). Inflation rates were lower in Yorkshire and the Humber (8.9 per cent), and North West (8.3 per cent). The lowest inflation rates were in the West and East Midlands (7.9 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively).

Figure 3: Regional house price indices

12-month percentage change for the latest month

House prices: regional

Mix-adjusted average house prices in February were £212,642 in England, £162,152 in Wales, £149,882 in Scotland and £209,643 in Northern Ireland.

The English region with the highest average house price in February remains London at £310,245. The lowest average price was in the North East at £144,213.

Of the English regions, only the East, London, South East and the South West had average prices above the UK average.

Figure 4: Mix-adjusted average house prices

Not seasonally adjusted

House price inflation: type of buyer

The UK house price inflation rate for first time buyers rose from 10.6 per cent in January to 12.5 per cent in February. There was a rise of 0.5 per cent in the prices index between January and February in the properties bought by first time buyers compared with a fall of 1.2 per cent over the same period last year.

Figure 5: UK annual house price inflation by type of buyer

12-month percentage change

The inflation rate for former owner occupiers rose from 11.0 per cent in January to 11.9 per cent in February. There was a fall of 0.4 per cent in the prices index between January and February in the properties bought by former owner occupiers, compared with a larger fall of 1.2 per cent over the same period last year.

The average price paid by first time buyers across the whole of the UK was £156,031 in February, while the average price paid by former owner occupiers was £229,176.

Tables

Tables are from August 2004 to February 2007.

A1: Mix-adjusted house price index and annual inflation by region (Excel)

A2: Mix-adjusted average house prices by region (Excel)

A3: Mix-adjusted house price index and annual inflation by type of buyer, UK (Excel)

A4: Mix-adjusted average house prices by type of buyer, UK (Excel)

Last month we published mix-adjusted prices for January 2007 using the weights that had been used throughout 2006. This allowed an appropriate comparison to be made between the December 2006 and January 2007 prices. This month we have published prices for January 2007 using the weights set for 2007, so that appropriate comparisons with February 2007 can be made. This means that previously published January 2007 figures have been revised. Overall, the difference in the published prices is £113 (0.05 per cent). Larger revisions have occurred in some regions and in type of buyer prices. The change in prices is not an error but the result of an annual technical change and explained further in paragraph 3 of the Notes to Editors. 

No revisions have been made to the index or inflation figures for January.

Additional tables and earlier monthly data can be accessed in the 'Live tables' section (housing market) at /housingstatistics

Notes to editors

1.   The mix-adjusted house price series are produced by Communities and Local Government and are being published on an experimental basis. Development of the methodology underpinning the indices has been undertaken in conjunction with the Office for National Statistics. The index will undergo a quality audit during 2007 with a view to gaining accreditation as a 'National Statistic'.

2. Since September 2005 the new mix-adjusted house price index is based on an enlarged sample of completions data (about 50,000 per month) from about 50 mortgage lenders who supply data through the Regulated Mortgage Survey (RMS) of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)/BankSearch. Prior to this date the index was based on the Survey of Mortgage Lenders (SML) (about 25,000 completions per month). The number of cases received will also be affected by the total number of mortgages that have been completed.

3. In January of each year the index weights are revised to reflect the pattern of property transactions during the previous 3 years. The mix-adjusted average prices for the rest of the year are then determined using these new weights. Consequently whilst house prices within the year are comparable - they are all based on the same weights - house prices between years cannot be compared because last year's weights and this year's weights are different. The index itself is constructed on a chain-linked basis, which enables year-on-year comparisons to be made. This means that the year-on-year change in the index for February, say, is effectively the change in the average price from February 2006 to January 2007 (using the weights for 2006) combined with the change in the average price from January 2007 to February 2007 using the weights for 2007. Therefore, the year-on-year change in the index is not the same as the year-on-year change in the mix-adjusted average price.

4. The Communities and Local Government index is currently showing similar year-on-year inflation to other indices available from commercial sources. The slight difference will be affected by differences in weighting. The Communities and Local Government index uses expenditure weights, whereas other indices use transaction weights. Consequently, the Communities and Local Government index is influenced by house price inflation rates in the higher priced areas (which are currently in the South) where house prices - and therefore total expenditure on house buying - is highest. Similarly, regional inflation determined by the Communities and Local Government is more influenced by the market for the higher priced properties (i.e. the demand for detached houses).

5. Note that the Communities and Local Government house price index figures released in this issue are based on completions during the month of February. Other recent indicators have been based on asking prices in March or prices based on mortgages approved during March. Therefore the Communities and Local Government figures are not directly comparable with these other indicators.

6. A month on month comparison of the Communities and Local Government index and price is not advised, as the series are not seasonally adjusted and comparisons over periods of less than a year will be affected by seasonal fluctuations. The series will not be seasonally adjusted until a sufficiently long monthly series exists.

7. Further details on the methodology of the index can be found in the Publications section of Housing Statistics website, at /housingstatistics. 

8. Further quarterly and annual house price data can be found on the Communities and Local Government web site in Live tables - Housing Market section, tables 507 and 508 and tables 590 to 594.

9. The next three release dates are:

• Monday 14 May 2007
• Monday 11 June 2007
• Monday 16 July 2007

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email: press@communities.gov.uk

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email: housing.statistics@communities.gov.uk

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