ODPM House Price Index – August 2005
The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK in August 2005 stood at £186,208, effectively unchanged from £186,207 in July 2005 (not seasonally adjusted).
*
UK annual house price inflation in August 2005 was 2.8 per cent, down from 4.0 per cent in July 2005. Annual house price inflation in London was 0.8 per cent in August 2005, down from 0.9 per cent in July 2005.
* The UK annual house price inflation rate for the 3 months to August 2005 was 3.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent in London.
The UK house price inflation rate fell from 4.0 per cent in July 2005 to 2.8 per cent in August 2005. Mix-adjusted prices were effectively unchanged between July and August 2005, compared with a rise of 1.1 per cent seen over the same period in 2004.
The UK price between July and August was effectively unchanged and this was matched by small or negligible changes for each property type. There were also no changes in the prices paid by first time buyers or former owner occupiers.
All the home countries saw a fall in annual inflation in August. The inflation rate in England fell from 3.1 per cent in July to 1.9 per cent in August. Over the same period, in Wales the rate fell from 7.6 per cent to 6.6 per cent; in Scotland the rate fell from 12.0 per cent to 11.2 per cent; and in Northern Ireland the rate fell from 15.9 per cent to 11.9 per cent.
House price inflation fell in all English regions, except the North West and Yorkshire & the Humber, between July and August. The highest inflation rates in England remain in the north, in North West (7.4 per cent), Yorkshire & the Humber (7.3 per cent), North East (5.5 per cent). The inflation rates in West and East Midlands are currently 3.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively Inflation rates in London, the East and South West are all below 1.0 per cent. The region with the lowest inflation rate is the South East, where inflation fell from 1.3 per cent in July to -0.4 per cent in August.
HOUSE PRICES: REGIONAL
Mix-adjusted average house prices in August were £195,093 in England, £149,291 in Wales, £128,412 in Scotland and £132,416 in Northern Ireland.
The English region with the highest average house price in August remains London at £269,059. The region with the lowest average price was the North East at £134,489.
Only the East, London, South East and the South West had average prices above the UK average.
HOUSE PRICE INFLATION: TYPE OF BUYER
The UK house price inflation rate for first time buyers fell from 6.0 per cent in July to 5.6 per cent in August. This was due to a rise of only 0.1 per cent in prices between July and August in the properties bought by first time buyers, compared with a rise of 0.4 per cent seen over the same period last year.
The inflation rate for former owner occupiers fell from 3.3 per cent in July to 1.8 per cent in August. This was due to a negligible change in prices between July and August in the properties bought by former owner occupiers, compared with a rise of 1.4 per cent over the same period last year.
The average price paid by first time buyers across the whole of the UK was £153,285 in August, while the average price paid by former owner occupiers was £201,110.
