Countrywide property prices examined: compare your house

There is a lot of uncertainty about house prices in the UK at the moment. Studies from various organisations seem to show different pictures. Early last week the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors declared September figures showed house prices were down for the second consecutive month. The week before the Halifax Building Society said prices went down 0.6% in September. But a study just out sponsored by the FT has said house prices went UP by 0.3% in September, with many variations in countrywide property prices. While there was still growth, that was down from 0.4% in August. It means the average house price in England and Wales is now £225,826, up from £225,100 a month ago. Using the FT’s interactive map we have looked at countrywide property and the differing price levels. This will let you compare the cost of your house to others in your area and around the UK. Starting in the North, this is the place to go for a cheap property. The average house price there is nearly £75,000 lower than the national average, at £151,036. The area saw prices go down slightly in September, by 0.1%. Next to Yorkshire and Humberside, where houses have an average price of £163,257. Again there was a 0.1% drop in prices in September. Continuing our look at the prices of countrywide property, and the North West region saw no change in September. Prices stayed the same, with the average at £165,107. The East Midlands area saw the biggest drop in house prices in September. The interactive map shows prices there dropped by half a per cent. That makes the average price £172,582. The same fate wasn’t suffered in the West Midlands. Instead prices there went up by half a per cent, making the average price £182,784. The East Anglia area also saw no movement, in this look at countrywide property changes in price in September. A typical property there is now priced at £204,291. In Wales there has been growth of 0.6%, with £165,670 being the average house price. Down in the South West there has been no change, with the average house price sticking at £233,991. And finally to the South East which saw growth of 0.6% in September, making the typical house price £268,529. Prices have of course continued to grow in the Greater London area – up 1.1% in September, making the average price there £363,384. Some boroughs of London saw spectacular growth. Prices went up by an average 39.1% in the City, by 26.8% in Islington and 24.6% in Kensington and Chelsea. Despite the variations in the prices of countrywide property and the conflicting reports, it is easy to see there is a general housing slow down. However it is not a clear picture in any way, and hard to tell what is going to happen over the coming months. Experts say there are reasons for the slow down and that’s why there is nothing to panic about. The Bank of England put interest rates up five times since August last year. And those rises clashed with credit lending problems and a loss of confidence in the United States, which will have affected banks here. So yes, house prices in the UK grew half as fast in the last six months compared to the previous six months, But the situation is far from desperate, with clear growth still being demonstrated across the UK during 2007 as a whole. And if as is expected, the Bank of England drops interest rates in November (after holding them for three months in a row), it is possible house price growth may pick up again in 2008.

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