Latest housing market indices analysed – “fairly flat”

A mixed picture this month with news ranging from “recent recovery in buyer demand stalls” from the RICS through to “prices surge as properties fly off the shelves” from Home.co.uk.

Our summary table of the indices shows that those tracking sales from listings online through to needing a mortgage are now seeing small rises year on year (bar Zoopla) – while those slightly later in the buying process are still recording property price falls year on year.

Since January, the indices pretty much agree that prices are fairly flat.

Property price and market indices headlines:

Rightmove                   Spring activity boost pushes asking prices close to new record

“The average asking price of property coming to the market rises by 1.1% this month to £372,324, just £570 short of the record in May 2023, while the annual rate of price growth is now +1.7%, the highest level for 12 months.”

Home.co.uk                  Prices surge as properties ‘fly off the shelves’

                                    “Asking price growth accelerates. Prices are up 0.9% since last month across England and Wales and 0.8% since April 2023.”

RICS                              Recent recovery in buyer demand stalls somewhat with a flatter picture cited this month

“National house prices remain stable, with twelve-month projections still in expansionary territory.”

Nationwide                  April sees slowing in annual house price growth
“UK house prices fell 0.4% month on month in April.”

Halifax                         UK house prices hold steady in April
“Annual growth rose to +1.1%, from +0.4% in March, though this can be attributed to the base effect of weaker price growth around this time last year.”

Zoopla                         The housing market continues to adjust to higher mortgage rates
“Annual house price inflation is -0.2%, unchanged from February.”

Here are the top four insights from this month’s indices:

Rightmove

• Near-record average price is the largest homes, top-of-the-ladder sector, which is seeing its strongest start to the year for price growth since 2014.
• The number of new sellers coming to the market is up by 12%
• The number of sales being agreed is up by 13%
• The biggest growth in activity is taking place in the largest homes, top-of-the-ladder sector, with the number of new sellers up by 18% compared with last year, and the number of sales being agreed up by 20%.
  

Nationwide

• UK house prices fell by 0.4% in April, after taking account of seasonal effects. This resulted in a slowing in the annual rate of house price growth to 0.6% in April, from 1.6% the previous month.
• House prices are now around 4% below the all-time highs recorded in the summer of 2022, after taking account of seasonal effects.

Home.co.uk

• Typical Time on Market for unsold property in England and Wales dropped by 21 days since last month.
• The current median is 83 days; in pre-COVID April 2019, the same measure was 93 days.
• The number of new instructions entering the market during March 2024 was 12% more than during March 2023. This notable increase underlines the greater vendor optimism and the increasing alacrity of the market.

Zoopla

• Prices broadly static but sales volumes are up 12% year-on-year.
• 64% of homes in markets with price falls, down from 82% last October.
• Annual mortgage costs for buyers are 61% higher than 3 years ago – two thirds down to higher rates and one third due to higher prices.
• The market is on track for 1.1m sales in 2024, up 10% on last year.