Asking prices in the UK up by just 0.2% year on year, latest index shows

Asking prices fell by 0.5% in England and Wales and by 1% in Scotland this month and more properties already on the market are reduced in price, the latest index shows.

It means that in England and Wales the average price is now just 0.2% higher than a year ago but in Scotland it is 2.1% higher, according to the data from the Home.co.uk index.

The largest monthly fall was 1.1% in Wales, taking the average price to £203,829 and growth in the South West of England has turned negative with asking prices down 0.6% month on month and down 0.1% year on year to £320,384.

Asking prices continue to fall in London, the South East and East of England with the rate of decline increasing in all three. In London they are down 3.2% in the last year and down 0.4% month on month to £516,421.

Meanwhile in the South East they are down 1.9% year on year and 1% on a monthly basis to £393,056 and in the East of England down 0.8% year on year and 0.7% month on month to £351,559.

Doug Shephard, Home.co.uk’s director pointed out that the South West is the fourth region to see negative growth along with London, the South East and the East of England. ‘Together these four regions account for around half of the UK’s dwellings. Going forward, their combined effect on the national average growth figures will be adverse,’ he explained.

But the index also shows that some regions are seeing strong annual growth, most noticeably the Midlands. Year on year prices are up 5.1% in the West Midlands to £249,961 and up 3.1% in the East Midlands to £232,763. Although both have seen prices slide slightly month on month by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.

Annual price growth remains strong in the North of England, up 4.1% in Yorkshire and the Humber, up 4.5% in the North West, although down month on month by 0.3% in both regions.

The index data also shows that overall the supply of property for sale in the UK is up by 3% year on year and the total stock for sale has increased by 11.4%, led by growth of 18% in the West Midlands.

However, some 16.9% more properties were reduced in price whilst on the market and the typical time on the market in England and Wales has increased to 111 days, four days longer than January 2018.

Shephard believes that continued Brexit uncertainty and potential interest rate rises are likely to be the main factors in 2019. ‘A shock hike in interest rates is possible should the pound come under greater pressure, and that would certainly mean that all bets on a 2020 London recovery would be off,’ he explained.

But he added that there is also the possibility that a post-Brexit London will attract considerable sums of international capital.