Nationwide House Price Data Indicates Largest Monthly Fall Since Records Began

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

Nationwide issued their monthly house price data today which showed that average UK house prices fell 2.5% during May, the biggest monthly drop in the history of the index which first recorded UK house prices in January 1991.

We are reserving judgement until we see the Land Registry statistics. Agreed sale prices for April will be released tomorrow and prices for May will be released at the end of June. As a company, we use the Land Registry figures as our primary market indicator because they are based on actual sold prices, so statistical trends are unaffected by sales which do not reach completion. Nationwide base their data on their own mortgage lending post-survey, so for example purchases made by cash buyers, who are one of the most active groups in the current marketplace, particularly in London and the South East, are not included.

We would expect house prices for London and the South East to outperform the rest of the country, but Nationwide only publish regional data on a quarterly basis and unlike the index issued by the Land Registry, the data is not area specific.

With respect to London and the South East, the index showed steady growth quarter on quarter throughout last year, including Q4 following the start of the credit crunch. The index reported a drop of 2.3% for Q1 2008 versus Q4 2007 for London and marginally smaller drops for the South East.

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Technorati Tags: House prices in London, London House Prices, London prices fall, London Property Search Agent, South East House Prices

Tags: House prices in London, London House Prices, London prices fall, London Property Search Agent, South East House Prices