Market Trend Data - February 2012 - Land Registry for England and Wales

(PR05/12) 23 March 2012

February Market Trend Data from Land Registry

Detailed monthly transaction and price paid information is now available in addition to the House Price Index and Transaction data

February house prices up 0.1 per cent since January: average house price in England and Wales now £161,588

South East tops the table of regional applications with 250,045 in February

Over 56,000 residential property sale prices in England and Wales lodged for registration in February

As part of its commitment to the Government’s priorities of economic growth and data transparency, detailed Land Registry price paid information is now available monthly in addition to the House Price Index and transaction data.

The first free Price Paid Data released by Land Registry, as a founder member of the Public Data Group, includes details of over 56,000 residential property sales in England and Wales that were lodged for registration in February 2012. The following information is available for each property:

the full address
the price paid
the date of transfer
the property type
whether it is new build or not
whether it is freehold or leasehold.

It can be downloaded from the Land Registry website as a monthly snapshot of our price paid database at www.landregistry.gov.uk/professional/market-trend-data/public-data/price-paid-data and is available for anyone to examine or reuse free of charge under the Open Government Licence (OGL).

The February data from Land Registry's flagship House Price Index shows an annual price decrease of 0.6 per cent which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £161,588. The monthly change from January to February is an increase of 0.1 per cent.

The region in England and Wales which experienced the highest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months is London with a movement of 4.2 per cent. Wales experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 2.0 per cent. The North West experienced the greatest annual price fall with a decrease of 3.5 per cent. The North East saw the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 2.6 per cent.

The most up-to-date figures available show that, during December 2011, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 8 per cent to 61,470 compared to 56,875 in December 2010. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in December 2011 decreased by 13 per cent to 488 from 559 in December 2010.

For more information go to www.landregistry.gov.uk/house-prices

Region	Monthly change (since January 2012)	Annual change (since February 2011)	Average price (February 2012)
Wales	2.0%	-1.9%	£117,927
London	1.4%	4.2%	£354,300
South East	1.2%	1.1%	£209,065
East Midlands	1.2%	-1.6%	£124,208
West Midlands	0.6%	-0.9%	£130,323
South West	0.1%	0.1%	£172,659
England & Wales	0.1%	-0.6%	£161,588
North West	-0.5%	-3.5%	£110,931
East	-0.7%	-1.8%	£171,852
Yorkshire & The Humber	-1.1%	-3.1%	£118,531
North East	-2.6%	-2.5%	£99,385

Average prices by property type (England and Wales)	February 2012	February 2011	Difference
Detached	£253,678	£257,861	-1.6%
Semi-detached	£152,720	£153,935	-0.8%
Terraced	£123,314	£123,927	-0.5%
Flat/maisonette	£151,942	£150,961	0.6%
All	£161,588	£162,541	-0.6%

Month	Sales 2011 (England and Wales)	Sales 2010 (England and Wales)	Difference
January	37,576	35,870	5%
February	39,666	42,565	-7%
March	46,709	51,449	-9%
April	50,674	52,314	-3%
May	48,896	52,213	-6%
June	57,571	62,758	-8%
July	62,146	67,511	-8%
August	64,160	61,502	4%
September	63,181	57,491	10%
October	57,462	58,647	-2%
November	59,456	56,322	6%
December	61,470	56,875	8%
Total	648,967	655,517	-1%

The Transaction Data shows Land Registry received over 1 million applications from all its customers (account and non-account) in February. This includes 1,020,472 applications by account customers, of which 224,939 were applications in respect of registered land (dealings), 490,981 were applications to obtain an official copy of a register or title plan, 139,486 were searches and 51,101 were transactions for value.

Top three customers	Transactions for value
My Home Move Limited	898
Countrywide Property Lawyers	741
O'Neill Patient	487

Top three customers	Searches
Enact	5,140
Optima Legal Services	4,955
TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	4,381

Top three local authorities	Applications
Birmingham	17,156
City of Westminster	16,623
Leeds	12,675

Region	Applications
South East	250,045
Greater London	194,031
North West	119,401
South West	111,142
West Midlands	94,477
Yorks & Humber	90,014
East Midlands	79,029
Wales	55,303
North	52,084
East Anglia	44,453
Isles of Scilly	47
England & Wales (not assigned)	34
England & Wales	1,090,060

ENDS

Notes to editors

The March House Price Index (HPI) and Transaction and Price Paid data sets will all be published at 11am on Tuesday 1 May 2012.
Market Trend Data is published on the twentieth working day of each month.
The Open Government Licence (OGL) developed by the National Archives permits the free use and re-use of public sector information. For further information visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence
The Public Data Group brings together Land Registry, Companies House, the Met Office and Ordnance Survey to work collectively on pursuing opportunities and driving efficiencies as well as on making their data available to users and re-users at a reduced cost or for free.
With the largest transactional database of its kind detailing over 23 million titles, Land Registry underpins the economy by safeguarding ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property.
Price Paid Data is residential property price data for all of the residential property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with us for registration in that month.
For historical Price Paid Data, email addvalueservices@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk or ring 0800 678 1678. There is a charge for these reports.
The HPI uses a sample size that is larger than all other statistical measures available. It is calculated using Land Registry's dataset of all residential property sales completed in England and Wales since January 1995.
Land Registry's dataset contains details on 16 million residential transactions. Of these, over six million are identifiable matched pairs, providing the basis for the repeat sales regression analysis used to complete the index. This technique of quality adjustment ensures an "apples to apples" comparison between properties.
The monthly Transaction Data shows how many applications for first registrations, leases, transfers of part, dealings, official copies and searches were lodged by Land Registry account customers. For an explanation of the terms used, see www.landregistry.gov.uk/market-trend-data/public-data/faqs#m11

Transactions for value include freehold and leasehold sales.

Most searches carried out by a solicitor or conveyancer are to protect the purchase and/or mortgage. For example, a search will give the buyer priority for an application to Land Registry to register the purchase of the property. For information about the different types of search, see www.landregistry.gov.uk/market-trend-data/public-data/faqs#m11

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of Land Registry. As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been an open document since 1990.

For further information about Land Registry visit www.landregistry.gov.uk

Contact

Marion Shelley 0300 0067543, 07790 690297

marion.shelley@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk