• Respondents in six of the 11 regions covered by the index believe prices increased over the course of the month.
• Households in the East of England perceived the biggest price growth in August, followed by those in the South West and South East.
• The future HPSI picked up in August with households still confident that the value of their home will rise over the next 12 months – albeit at a slower pace than before the EU Referendum.
• Households in the South of England are more confident about price rises than those in the North of England, Scotland or Wales.

Change in current house prices Households across the UK perceive that the value of their home rose in August, according to the latest House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI) from Knight Frank and IHS Markit.

Some 15.2% of the 1,500 households surveyed across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 12.4% said that prices had fallen. This resulted in a HPSI reading of 51.4 (see figure 1).  Any figure over 50 indicates that prices are rising, and the higher the figure, the stronger the increase. Any figure below 50 indicates that prices are falling.

August’s reading was an increase from the 48.3 recorded last month following the EU Referendum – and takes the index back into 50+ territory, indicating prices rose on the month. However, it remains notably below the average HPSI reading for the first six months of the year before the vote (59.9). It is also significantly lower than the peak of 63.2 recorded in May 2014.  Households in six of the 11 regions covered by the index perceived that the value of their property rose in August, with those in the East of England reporting the biggest rises (58.5), followed by those in the South West (55.0) and the South East (54.5).

Scotland and the North East were the only two regions where sentiment fell month-on-month from 49.3 and 45.0 to 45.6 and 44.3 respectively.

Gráinne Gilmore (left), Head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said, “The greater political confidence instilled after Brexit by the swift appointment of a new Prime Minister, coupled with the Bank of England’s base rate cut have provided some reassurance to markets in recent weeks.  “This is reflected in a tick up in the HPSI, although uncertainty about the medium-term outlook is weighing on sentiment overall.  “The regional variations in the index are striking in August, with households in several regions expecting a stronger rate of price growth over the next 12 months than those in London, a reversal of the trend seen in recent years.”