Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index summary: December 2023

Published 14 February 2024

1. Headline statistics for December 2023

The average price of a property in the UK was £284,691

The annual price change for a property in the UK was -1.4%

The monthly price change for a property in the UK was 0.1%

The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 149.3

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data.

Next publication of UK HPI

The January 2024 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 20 March 2024. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Average UK house price annual inflation was negative 1.4% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to December 2023, compared with negative 2.3% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to November 2023.

The average UK house price was £285,000 in December 2023 (provisional estimate), which is £4,000 lower than 12 months ago. Average house prices in the 12 months to December 2023 decreased in England to £302,000 (negative 2.1%), decreased in Wales to £214,000 (negative 2.5%) and increased in Scotland to £190,000 (3.3%). The average house price increased in the year to Q4 (Oct to Dec) 2023 to £178,000 in Northern Ireland (1.4%).

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average UK house prices increased by 0.1% between November 2023 and December 2023, compared with a decrease of 0.8% during the same period 12 months ago.

Of English regions, annual house price inflation was highest in the North West, where prices increased by 1.2% in the 12 months to December 2023. London was the English region with the lowest annual inflation, where prices decreased by 4.8% in the 12 months to December 2023.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS’) December 2023 UK Residential Market Survey reported a decrease in buyer demand. Although this metric has become less negative in each of the past four months. With regards to supply, a generally stable trend was reported for new instructions over the month. However, current stock levels remain relatively low when viewed in a longer-term historical comparison.

The Bank of England’s Agents summary of business conditions 2023 Q4 reported a gradual improvement in the market over the month, which is likely driven by the continued easing in mortgage interest rates.

HM Revenue & Customs’ UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in December 2023, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 80,420. This is 17.8% lower than 12 months ago (December 2022). Between November 2023 and December 2023, UK transactions decreased by 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The Bank of England’s Money and Credit December 2023 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, increased to 50,500 in December 2023 from 49,300 in November 2023.

3. Price changes

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for UK by country over the past 5 years

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Average house prices in the UK decreased by 1.4% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to December 2023, up from a decrease of 2.3% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to November 2023.

At the country level, the highest annual house price percentage change in the 12 months to December 2023 was recorded in Scotland, where house prices increased by 3.3%.

England saw average house prices decrease by 2.1% in the 12 months to December 2023.

Wales saw average house prices decrease by 2.5% in the 12 months to December 2023.

Northern Ireland saw average house prices increase by 1.4% over the 12 months to Quarter 4 (October to December) 2023.

3.2 Average price by country and government office region

Price, monthly change and annual change by country and government office region

Country and government office region	Price	Monthly change	Annual change
England	£302,164	0.2%	-2.1%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 - 2023)	£177,611	-0.9%	1.4%
Scotland	£190,341	-0.9%	3.3%
Wales	£213,816	0.9%	-2.5%
East Midlands	£248,390	1.6%	-1.0%
East of England	£342,489	-0.5%	-3.8%
London	£508,037	0.0%	-4.8%
North East	£157,557	-1.2%	-0.8%
North West	£218,353	2.5%	1.2%
South East	£377,162	-1.9%	-4.6%
South West	£318,966	-0.5%	-2.2%
West Midlands Region	£252,532	2.6%	0.3%
Yorkshire and The Humber	£207,501	0.1%	-1.2%

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Price changes by country and government office region

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.1% between November 2023 and December 2023, compared with a decrease of 0.8% during the same period 12 months ago (November 2022 and December 2022). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.3% between November 2023 and December 2023.

Note: The Northern Ireland figure represents a 3-month change and is not comparable with the other regions and countries.

3.3 Average price by property type

Average monthly price by property type

Property type	December 2023	December 2022	Difference
Detached	£447,076	£450,562	-0.8%
Semi-detached	£280,024	£280,548	-0.2%
Terraced	£232,113	£238,063	-2.5%
Flat or maisonette	£224,757	£230,014	-2.3%
All	£284,691	£288,744	-1.4%

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4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

In recent periods, the total transaction volumes available to calculate UK HPI estimates for the latest months have been lower than historically (see UK HPI QMI Section 2.2: Accuracy). This has arisen from a combination of total transaction volumes in England and Wales falling over the past year (HMRC has reported a 22% fall in the 12 months to November 2023) and a reduction in the proportion of transactions, processed by HM Land Registry, for the first estimate. The sample for the latest estimate is about half of usual volumes. The processing of new build properties has been particularly affected.

The Office for National Statistics and HM Land Registry are working together to resolve this, including seeking a greater balance between processing recently received applications and those that are older to help preserve the quality of UK HPI statistics.

In 2020, we introduced pooling for new build transactions for certain months in England and Wales. In December 2023, we implemented a methodology improvement to the Great Britain model, which increased UK coherence and improved UK HPI statistics quality. From December 2023, HM Land Registry increased UK HPI processing, so the proportion of total transactions processed for the first estimate is expected to increase from 14 February 2024’s release.

In the meantime, users should be aware that revisions may be larger than usual and are advised to note the significantly greater uncertainty around new build prices.

4.1 Sales volumes

Number of sales volumes by country

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year

Country	October 2023	October 2022
England	37,026	67,264
Northern Ireland	1,773	2,242
Scotland	7,722	9,184
Wales	2,119	3,921

Note: Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised 12-month volume estimate.

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Note: The ‘Difference’ column has been removed from this table as the latest month’s data are not yet complete.

Note: The number of property transactions for October 2023 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for October 2022 with the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for October 2023, volume transactions decreased by 29.3.% in England, 13.7% in Scotland and 29.2% in Wales. Northern Ireland’s UK HPI volume transactions decreased by 13.4% in the year to Quarter 4 2023.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that in the 12 months to October 2023, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, HMRC volume transactions decreased by 18.3% in England, 15.3% in Scotland, 20.7% in Wales and 16.5% in Northern Ireland.

4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years

Sales volumes for 2019 to 2023 by country: October

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Note: The number of property transactions for October 2023 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the UK HPI index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for October 2022 with the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for October 2023, UK volume transactions decreased by 26.7%.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, HMRC volume transactions for the UK decreased by 18.1% in the 12 months to October 2023.

5. Property status for UK

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent 2 months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property

Property status	Average price October 2023	Monthly change	Annual change
New build	£389,716	1.2%	9.4%
Existing resold property	£280,889	-0.2%	-1.8%

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Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in the methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status for Great Britain

First time buyer and former owner occupier

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for buyer status.

Type of buyer	Average price December 2023	Monthly change	Annual change
First time buyer	£237,655	0.7%	-1.4%
Former owner occupier	£331,686	-0.5%	-1.7%

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7. Funding status for Great Britain

Cash and mortgage

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for funding status.

Funding status	Average price December 2023	Monthly change	Annual change
Cash	£268,346	-0.2%	-1.9%
Mortgage	£297,185	0.3%	-1.3%

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8. Housing transaction distributions

Between July and September 2023, there were 182,888 property sales.

The most popular price range for:

• England was £175,000 to £199,999 – 9,304 properties were purchased
• Scotland was £125,000 to £149,999 – 2,470 properties were purchased
• Wales was £150,000 to £174,999 – 1,025 properties were purchased
• Northern Ireland was £150,000 to £174,999 – 807 properties were purchased

The charts below show the distribution of housing transactions for Q3 (July to September) 2023 for countries of the UK. Data for Great Britain is presented in bands of £25,000 up to £10 million, followed by a larger band for over £10 million. Data for Northern Ireland is presented in bands of £25,000 up to £500,000, followed by a larger band for over £500,000.

In line with the UK HPI revisions policy, the number of transactions will increase as more data are incorporated into the index, which would also impact the distributions presented in this analysis.

England housing transactions

Price band	Housing transactions
less than £25,000	22
£25,000 - £49,999	504
£50,000 - £74,999	2,040
£75,000 - £99,999	4,196
£100,000 - £124,999	5,991
£125,000 - £149,999	7,703
£150,000 - £174,999	8,855
£175,000 - £199,999	9,304
£200,000 - £224,999	8,941
£225,000 - £249,999	9,010
£250,000 - £274,999	8,829
£275,000 - £299,999	8,347
£300,000 - £324,999	7,194
£325,000 - £349,999	6,569
£350,000 - £374,999	6,058
£375,000 - £399,999	5,504
£400,000 - £424,999	4,785
£425,000 - £449,999	4,116
£450,000 - £474,999	3,629
£475,000 - £499,999	3,212
£500,000 - £524,999	2,773
£525,000 - £549,999	2,396
£550,000 - £574,999	2,206
£575,000 - £599,999	1,991
£600,000 - £624,999	1,810
£625,000 - £649,999	1,539
£650,000 - £674,999	1,434
£675,000 - £699,999	1,255
£700,000 - £724,999	1,085
£725,000 - £749,999	977
£750,000 - £774,999	948
£775,000 - £799,999	756
£800,000 - £824,999	664
£825,000 - £849,999	624
£850,000 - £874,999	682
£875,000 - £899,999	600
£900,000 - £924,999	466
£925,000 - £949,999	405
£950,000 - £974,999	473
£975,000 - £999,999	341
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999	2,114
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999	1,300
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999	728
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999	441
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999	896
£5,000,000 - £9,999,999	89
greater than £10,000,000	20

Scotland housing transactions

Price band	Housing transactions
less than £25,000	64
£25,000 - £49,999	619
£50,000 - £74,999	1,505
£75,000 - £99,999	2,145
£100,000 - £124,999	2,273
£125,000 - £149,999	2,470
£150,000 - £174,999	2,269
£175,000 - £199,999	2,009
£200,000 - £224,999	1,700
£225,000 - £249,999	1,706
£250,000 - £274,999	1,357
£275,000 - £299,999	1,180
£300,000 - £324,999	1,068
£325,000 - £349,999	779
£350,000 - £374,999	724
£375,000 - £399,999	557
£400,000 - £424,999	443
£425,000 - £449,999	313
£450,000 - £474,999	289
£475,000 - £499,999	235
£500,000 - £524,999	169
£525,000 - £549,999	151
£550,000 - £574,999	126
£575,000 - £599,999	94
£600,000 - £624,999	77
£625,000 - £649,999	67
£650,000 - £674,999	78
£675,000 - £699,999	43
£700,000 - £724,999	66
£725,000 - £749,999	44
£750,000 - £774,999	39
£775,000 - £799,999	28
£800,000 - £824,999	27
£825,000 - £849,999	16
£850,000 - £874,999	32
£875,000 - £899,999	19
£900,000 - £924,999	14
£925,000 - £949,999	8
£950,000 - £974,999	8
£975,000 - £999,999	15
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999	64
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999	39
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999	6
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999	9
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999	11

Wales housing transactions

Price band	Housing transactions
less than £25,000	1
£25,000 - £49,999	28
£50,000 - £74,999	176
£75,000 - £99,999	487
£100,000 - £124,999	751
£125,000 - £149,999	937
£150,000 - £174,999	1,025
£175,000 - £199,999	852
£200,000 - £224,999	636
£225,000 - £249,999	621
£250,000 - £274,999	486
£275,000 - £299,999	424
£300,000 - £324,999	326
£325,000 - £349,999	254
£350,000 - £374,999	208
£375,000 - £399,999	192
£400,000 - £424,999	146
£425,000 - £449,999	96
£450,000 - £474,999	78
£475,000 - £499,999	85
£500,000 - £524,999	45
£525,000 - £549,999	50
£550,000 - £574,999	45
£575,000 - £599,999	39
£600,000 - £624,999	30
£625,000 - £649,999	34
£650,000 - £674,999	19
£675,000 - £699,999	13
£700,000 - £724,999	17
£725,000 - £749,999	9
£750,000 - £774,999	12
£775,000 - £799,999	18
£800,000 - £824,999	6
£825,000 - £849,999	6
£850,000 - £874,999	9
£875,000 - £899,999	9
£900,000 - £924,999	3
£925,000 - £949,999	4
£950,000 - £974,999	2
£975,000 - £999,999	3
£1,000,000 - £1,249,999	13
£1,250,000 - £1,499,999	5
£1,500,000 - £1,749,999	4
£1,750,000 - £1,999,999	1
£2,000,000 - £4,999,999	2

Northern Ireland housing transactions

Price band	Housing transactions
less than £25,000	5
£25,000 - £49,999	79
£50,000 - £74,999	291
£75,000 - £99,999	595
£100,000 - £124,999	672
£125,000 - £149,999	793
£150,000 - £174,999	807
£175,000 - £199,999	702
£200,000 - £224,999	443
£225,000 - £249,999	345
£250,000 - £274,999	263
£275,000 - £299,999	217
£300,000 - £324,999	121
£325,000 - £349,999	118
£350,000 - £374,999	87
£375,000 - £399,999	76
£400,000 - £424,999	58
£425,000 - £449,999	48
£450,000 - £474,999	22
£475,000 - £499,999	20
greater than £500,000	142

9. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

10. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

A key determinant of house prices is the demographic characteristics of the area in which the property is located. The UK HPI uses the socio-demographic classification, known as Acorn, in the hedonic regression model to measure the affluence of the area.

Prior to 20 December 2023’s publication, property transactions in Great Britain were excluded from the regression model if their Acorn classification was missing. From 20 December 2023’s publication, these properties are included in the regression model from January 2023’s data onwards, but are given less weight in the calculations, as described above. This methodology improvement aligns how transactions with missing Acorn classification are used in the Great Britain model and Northern Ireland model, increasing coherence across the UK and improving the quality of UK HPI statistics.

11. Contact

Eileen Morrison, Data Services Team Leader, HM Land Registry

Email eileen.morrison@landregistry.gov.uk

Telephone 0300 006 5288

Aimee North, Head of Housing Market Indices, Office for National Statistics

Email aimee.north@ons.gov.uk

Telephone 01633 456400

Ciara Cunningham, Statistician for the Northern Ireland HPI

Email ciara.cunningham@finance-ni.gov.uk

Telephone 028 90 336035

Anne MacDonald, Land & Property Data Team, Registers of Scotland

Email Anne.MacDonald@ros.gov.uk

Telephone 0131 378 4991