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

(PR06/12) 1 May 2012

March Market Trend Data from Land Registry

March house prices down 0.6 per cent since February: average house price in England and Wales now £160,372
South East tops the table of regional applications with 271,010 in March
Over 55,000 residential property sale prices in England and Wales lodged for registration in March

The March 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 £160,372. The monthly change from February to March is a decrease of 0.6 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 0.7 per cent.
The North East experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 5.6 per cent.
Wales experienced the greatest annual price fall with a decrease of 5.5 per cent and the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 4.1 per cent.
The most up-to-date figures available show that, during January 2012, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 13 per cent to 42,511 compared to 37,584 in January 2011.
The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in January 2012 decreased by 6 per cent to 467 from 497 in January 2011.

Access the full dataset www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/house-prices-and-sales

Region	Monthly change (since February 2012)	Annual change (since March 2011)	Average price (March 2012)
North East	5.6%	-2.8%	£101,676
East Midlands	1.2%	0.2%	£123,879
West Midlands	0.3%	0.3%	£130,212
Yorkshire & The Humber	0.1%	-2.2%	£118,204
East	-0.1%	0.5%	£173,227
North West	-0.4%	-2.3%	£111,264
England & Wales	0.6%	-0.6%	£160,372
South East	-0.7%	0.3%	£206,918
South West	-1.0%	-0.7%	£170,261
London	-1.8%	0.7%	£343,522
Wales	-4.1%	-5.5%	£113,036

Average prices by property type (England and Wales)	March 2012	March 2011	Difference
Detached	£251,112	£256,655	-2.2%
Semi-detached	£153,080	£152,503	0.4%
Terraced	£122,075	£122,619	-0.4%
Flat/maisonette	£149,229	£150,177	-0.6%
All	£160,372	£161,290	-0.6%

Month	Sales 2011 (England and Wales)	Sales 2010 (England and Wales)	Difference
January	37,584	35,872	5%
February	39,669	42,570	-7%
March	46,721	51,454	-9%
April	50,689	52,317	-3%
May	48,920	52,224	-6%
June	57,612	62,768	-8%
July	62,202	67,514	-8%
August	64,257	61,504	4%
September	63,331	57,496	10%
October	57,674	58,654	-2%
November	59,872	56,331	6%
December	62,586	56,883	10%
Total	651,117	655,587	-1%

Month	Sales 2012 (England and Wales)	Sales 2011 (England and Wales)	Difference
January	42,511	37,584	13%

The Transaction Data shows Land Registryreceived over 1 million applications from all its customers (account and non-account) in March. This includes 1,094,685 applications by account customers, of which 246,609 were applications in respect of registered land (dealings), 507,354 were applications to obtain an official copy of a register or title plan, 167,602 were searches and 51,015 were transactions for value.

Access the full dataset www.landregistry.gov.uk/professional/market-trend-data/public-data/transaction-data

Top three customers	Transactions for value
My Home Move Limited	1003
Addleshaw Goddard	803
Countrywide Property Lawyers	722

Top three customers	Searches
Enact	5,106
Optima Legal Services	4,716
TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	4,066
Top three local authorities	Applications
Birmingham	18,032
City of Westminster	17,482
Cornwall	13,650

Region	Applications
South East	271,010
Greater London	207,733
North West	128,902
South West	123,419
West Midlands	97,643
Yorks & Humber	95,215
East Midlands	81,533
Wales	57,362
North	55,352
East Anglia	46,814
Isles of Scilly	37
England & Wales (not assigned)	36
England & Wales	1,165,056

The Price Paid Data includes details of over 55,000 residential property sales in England and Wales that were lodged for registration in March 2012.

Access the full dataset www.landregistry.gov.uk/professional/market-trend-data/public-data/price-paid-data

ENDS

Notes to editors

The April House Price Index (HPI) and Transaction and Price Paid data sets will all be published at 11am on Tuesday 29 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 http://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.
6. 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.
Price Paid Data is residential property price data for all the residential property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with us for registration in that month. 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 OGL.
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/professional/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/professional/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