September 2024: UK House Price Index

Navigating the UK property market and being able to identify property rental and price changes can be crucial to what is likely to be the largest investment you ever make. Our monthly UK property price index gives you all the latest figures and individual trends for you to make the most informed decision.

Whether you are a homeowner, homebuyer or property investor: staying informed about the latest property price changes for every area is paramount for your due diligence.

Below we take a look at the September UK house price index and analyse the changes for each area and each property type. This data consolidates all of the land registry and sale data for the most recent month across the UK.

Overall House Price Index

Month	Avg Asking Price	Avg Sale Price	Difference
	£370,759		-4.3%
	£367,785		-1.3%

With the recent fluctuations of asking prices vs actual sale prices still being widely underreported, it is especially important to look past the vanity of asking price and examine the reality of sale prices.

Whilst asking prices tend to show us a good insight into seller positivity and confidence, they do fail to tell us the full story when it comes to property sales. Actual sale prices on the other hand show us exactly where the market is at with hard data on exactly how much is being achieved in the property sale.

In August the disparity between asking prices grew from the previous month with asking prices being on average £370,759 whilst the reality of sales prices sits -4.3% lower at £354,723.

This in comparison to previous month is quite a significant increase to the difference between what sellers want in comparison to what buyers are actually willing to pay. Whilst a difference is always expected between a property buyer and seller, this 4.3% (£16,036) suggests that sellers may have slightly unrealistic expectations when it comes to the actual value of their property.

Below we break down each individual property type along with their average sold prices for the Propertistics September UK House price index.

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Overall, the average sale prices for all properties in the UK this month dipped by -2.3% in comparison to the previous month’s sales from £363,071 down to £354,723.

This slight decline is within acceptable ranges for the UK property market as a whole and with some property sales not being recorded in time for the index, it is likely to fluctuate slightly once those figures are reported.

Biggest House Price Index Increase

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Wolverhampton tops the charts this month as the area in the UK that saw the largest increase in average property prices sold. With a large jump of 49.2% from £172,028 up to £256,669.

This significant rise will be welcomed news to homeowners within the area as the increase in prices paid may indicate desirability of Wolverhampton appears to be on the rise.

Whilst this may be good news for current homeowners, potential homebuyers and investors may be feeling like they have missed the jump on this spike. With that being said, the average sale price within the area still sits some way below the national average which means there is likely still room for average price growth despite the significant jump.

Overall, this is great news for the residents of the area and for the UK housing market as whole since it is one of the cheaper areas in the UK showing significant growth, this can only mean good knock-on effects for the rest of the nation’s markets.

Lowest House Price Index Increase

Month	Avg Sale Price	Value Change
		–

Leeds has shown some great stability in this month’s house price index with its average property price staying a healthy £286,690 up very slightly from £286,418 last month.

Stability when it comes to property prices is always welcomed news as it can cement confidence that the area is maintaining its attractiveness to both buyers and sellers. With these latest numbers for Leeds being so closely tied to the previous month and the volume of sales being maintained, this could be a fantastic opportunity for homebuyers and investors to get involved in an area that is proving to be reliable.

Homeowners within the area may very well want to keep an eye on the progress of the price index in the coming months as Leeds is likely poised for an increase soon. It may very well be a good time to cash in on either equity or property value whilst the market in Leeds heats up.

Biggest House Price Index Decrease

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Isle of Anglesey located off the north coast of Wales was the biggest loser this month within the UK property index. With a very worrying drop of -43.78% to average sale prices hitting the area hard and bringing the price down from £336,214 to £189,027 this month, residents may be alarmed at why the sudden dip.

This could be worrying news for the Welsh property market as a whole since areas throughout the country experienced high increases to crime this month, it is unlikely that the two would be linked so tightly and so quickly.

With that being said one of the largest insights to property prices does tend to be crime rates and subsequently how safe residents feel in their properties with their possessions. This could in itself be worrying since the crime rates around Wales seem to be on the up and this dip could be seen as worse things to come.

With every cloud can come a silver lining and in this case that could be significant for homebuyers and investors. Isle of Anglesey may offer a great opportunity to invest in property throughout the area whilst the market cools and could see significant returns when the market returns to normality.

Lowest House Price Index Decrease

Month	Avg Sale Price	Change
		–

Vale of Glamorgan also located in Wales is one of the areas that may very well be fighting the good fight on behalf of the Welsh property market for this month.

With the average property prices showing stability by being ever so slightly down from £314,406 last month to £312,919 this month. This is great news for homeowners in the area and for residents of Wales as a whole.

The hopes for residents in the area will be that this level of stability can be maintained despite the crime issues noted in Wales this month. Whilst the crime issues could potentially be a blip in an otherwise strong property market, it will take time and analysis for any real data to be realised.

Next month’s crime and price indexes will be key for anyone who is keeping watch on Welsh property and the hopes for all will see a decline in crime and an increase in property prices.