March 2024: UK House Price Index

With January’s healthy price increase of property prices across the UK after a lull in the previous months, February price sales were hotly anticipated to continue in the same direction.

Rightmove, the property listing website, had announced in February that the average asking price for properties in the UK had surged by 1.5%. Whilst asking prices and final sale prices are two very different things, this was overdue positive news for UK homeowners.

With all that being said, here at Propertistics it is the final sale price trends that we value most as asking for a large sum for property is not the same as actually getting it.

So, lets dive straight into the numbers released this month for all property sales in England and Wales whilst we analyse their trends and projections.

Overall House Price Index

As an overall for the month, the UK house price index has seen a decrease from January’s already low return against asking prices.

It is important to note that whilst this decrease against asking price is quite significant, it is not the whole story but is indicative of how far apart UK property sellers are from UK property buyers.

Month	Avg Asking Price	Avg Sale Price	Difference
	£362,839	£323,601	-10.4%
	£359,748		-5.4%

As you can see from the table above, the average selling price for England and Wales in February 2024 was 10.4% below the average asking price. This disparity was a further 5% below the -5.4% drop in January 2024 from December 2023.

Does this mean that UK property sellers are overvaluing their properties or perhaps the property market has slowed? We can take a deeper dive into property times to understand the difference better as we compare average selling prices across UK and Wales.

In January 2024 detached homes made up 25.3% of all property sales across the UK and this trend continued into February 2024 with 25.1% of all sales being those for detached properties.

Whilst the percentage of detached properties sold stayed much the same, there was a drop in average selling prices from £497,185 down to £472,232. This is a drop of around 5% and goes some way into explaining the gap of asking price and final sale price outlined above.

Semi detached homes actually saw a slight increase in sales in February with an increase of 0.5%. All sales in England and Wales were dominated by semi-detached homes making up a whopping 28.3%.

Whilst the overall volume of sales was up, the actual average sale price was down over 4% from the January average of £303,136 to £291,737 in February 2024.

Terraced house sales saw the biggest decline in numbers sold for February 2024 with a drop of 0.5% from the same period in January 2024.

The average sale price subsequently also saw a decline down to £270,222 from £282,113, a decline of 4.2%. Whilst not insignificant in comparison to other average property price sales for February, this does give some cause for concern for those who are looking at selling their terraced homes.

Apartment / flat sales were probably the most consistent for the month with an almost identical volume of sales (19.8% in February from 19.7% in January).

These too though did see a decline in average sale prices with a recorded drop of 6.2% plummeting from £268,912 down to £252,118.

Apartments / flats in the UK were the most significant in their reduction and the drop may represent wider preferences, or perhaps limitations, in the UK property buyers’ market which only time will tell to be true.

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Overall, the average sale price across the board for the month of February saw a decline of 4.78% which would put it very much inline with the current market trends. Great for buyers but sellers may have legitimate concerns.

Biggest House Price Index Increase

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

It is of not much surprise that it is a London Borough that claims the top spot for the biggest increase in property price sales for this month.

Islington, London is notorious for its lavish properties and wealthy occupants and with an average property setting you back in the region of £1,136,316 for the month of February, only the top 1% need apply.

This is an incredible jump of 78.4% up from the £636,958 recorded last month and whilst there are a few key property sales that have dragged the average up, the outcome is of little surprise to anyone knowledgeable on the UK property market, particularly that of any of the London boroughs.

Detached houses are almost non existent in this area so detached home sales make up 0% of the sales for February 2024, as they did in January 2024 too.

Semi-detached homes, whilst also rare in the area, saw some action this month with an average sale price of a whopping £1,350,000 – well above the national average across the UK.

This was a total of 12.5% of all sales for this type of property with January seeing no semi-detached sales at all.

Terraced homes in the Islington are more common but have not seen that reflected in the property sale data for the period.

Making up only 6.3% of the total properties sold in February, down from 8.3% in January, these properties still come with a very premium price tag.

£2,160,000 is what it takes on average to secure one of these properties in February which is a substantial increase of over 71% from the previous month and perhaps are huge part of how Islington has topped the charts of biggest price increase for the month.

Apartments within the area are of course the most common property type, as they are across all the London boroughs. So, it is no surprise that they make up 81.3% of all the sales in the area for the month.

What may be of some surprise though is despite a drop of 10.4% in volume, they appear to have made up in quality over quantity for this month. £1,024,696 is what it took to get the average apartment here and that is a huge 76.5% increase from the £580,545 average sale price in January 2024.

Lowest House Price Index Increase

Month	Avg Sale Price	Value Change
		–

The city of Kingston upon Hull has stayed the most consistent with their average property prices in February with a minor increase of 0.08%.

With the UK property market being particularly unpredictable the last few months, this stability in the area will come as a welcome surprise to buyers and sellers in the local area.

Detached property sales in the city of Kingston upon Hull have seen a significant increase in comparison to January. With an almost double in volume from 2.1% to 4%, their popularity this month is on the rise.

Last month detached properties in the area fetched an average price of £170,000 and with their increase in volume, the average price has followed suit. £190,000 was the going rate – an increase of around 11.75%.

Semi-detached homes in the area on the other hand, saw their volume of sales also increase significantly but their price also plummeted in an unforeseen blip of the market.

Rising from 17% of total sales in January to 36% in February, semi-detached homes have seen popularity explode this month in Hull.

It is strange then that their average value has plummeted by over 22% despite their volume increase for the month. Down to £136,667 from £176,744 in February means it is certainly a buyers’ market for semi-detached homes in the area.

Terraced homes in the area saw a drop in both volume of sales and average sale prices.

Dropping in volume from 61.7% to 56% this month, the average sale price also took a small hit. Losing slightly over 3% on average value from £120,709 in January to £116,900 in February – there is no real cause for concern as this sits firmly in expected market volatility.

Apartments on the other hand were the major cause for concern of homeowners in Hull.

With an alarming drop of 15.1% in volume from 19.1% in January, this could be indicative of the preferences of buyers being seen nationwide.

There was also little in the way of good news when it came to average sale prices for this property type. A severe drop of 50% saw the average sale plummet to £40,000 this month, a significant decrease.

Biggest House Price Index Decrease

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Kensington and Chelsea is another London borough that is well known for its affluent residents.

However, the borough has made the list for February for all the wrong reasons. With a drop in average sale price decrease of 38.17% down from £2.2m to £1.35m from January to February.

With detached homes in short supply much like Islington mentioned above, the drop of detached sales is of little surprise.

January saw only 3% of sales being those of a detached type but with a whopping average price tag of £5,726,000 that also comes of little surprise at their less than ample interest.

Semi-detached homes are of a similar fate to detached homes above. With an almost identical previous performance in January with 3% volume and £5.25m as an average price tag.

February 2024 saw no sales for this property type and their short supply will have played a big part in that statistic.

Terraced properties did see a substantial increase in volume this month with a 6.7% increase in number of sales completed.

This was, however, a buyers’ market, as the average price sold saw a drop of 59% for all terraced homes in the area.

With the average terraced home sale for Kensington and Chelsea still fetching £2,425,000, it won’t be a drop significant enough to price in anyone but the wealthiest.

Apartments within the area are of the most plentiful so it is no surprise that they once again make up over 75% of all sales made for the month.

Their value also maintained a steady trend despite the performance of terraced homes mentioned above. A drop of 4.2% from £1,048,947 down to £1,004,833 would be acceptable and within nationwide predictions for the month.

Lowest House Price Index Decrease

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Buckinghamshire is another sought after location, and it makes the list for February’s house price ranks as a steady mover in average sale price.

With a minimal decrease of only -0.22% from £544,232 in January to £543,018 this month, anyone with a property in the area will be happy with the overall figures.

Despite the solid performance overall, it was detached homes that took the hardest hit for February.

Dropping 5.1% in volume of sales this month, detached homes also saw their average sale price slashed from £857,443 down to £764,262.

This nearly 11% drop will cause some concern amongst homeowners in the area but with the nationwide trend of detached homes dropping in average value, it is likely a small correction.

Semi-detached homes have filled the void that detached homes have left behind outlined above. This could be indicative of both buyer preference and the average budget but only time will tell.

Total semi-detached home sales rose by 8.4% in February and their average sale price also saw a welcomed boost to £505,953. This 13.7% increase is certainly significant and has helped the area maintain an overall value by peaking the detached home sale price drop above.

Terraced sales in Buckinghamshire were where the county performed the best for the housing index of February. There was a significant increase in average sale prices despite maintaining a similar volume to January.

The volume of terraced properties sold increased by 0.1% but the average sale price ended up 28.2% to £459,154 from a previous high of £357,980.

This alone has helped Buckinghamshire maintain a solid footing in the UK property market for this month and has helped prop up a disappointed return on detached homes in the area.

Apartment / flat sales in the area were a little bit of an outlier with the volume of sales dropping 3.8% in comparison to January UK property sales within Buckinghamshire.

Despite the lull in volume the average sale increased by over 12% jumping from £269,875 to over £300,000 for a record high in the area.

This firmly puts Buckinghamshire at the top end of the list of UK property average sale prices.