UK House Price Index summary: May 2024
Published 17 July 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-house-price-index-for-may-2024/uk-house-price-index-summary-may-2024
1. Headline statistics for May 2024
The average price of a property in the UK was £285,000
The annual price change for a property in the UK was 2.2%
The monthly price change for a property in the UK was 1.2%
The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 149.6
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 June 2024 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 14 August 2024. See the calendar of release dates for more information.
2. Economic statement
Average UK house price annual inflation was 2.2% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to May 2024, up from an increase of 1.3% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to April 2024.
The average UK house price was £285,000 in May 2024 (provisional estimate), which is £6,000 higher than 12 months ago. Average house prices in the 12 months to May 2024 increased in England to £302,000 (2.2%), increased in Wales to £216,000 (2.4%) and increased in Scotland to £191,000 (2.5%). The average house price increased in the year to Q1 (Jan to Mar) 2024 to £178,000 in Northern Ireland (4.0%).
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average UK house prices increased by 1.2% between April 2024 and May 2024, up from an increase of 0.2% during the same period 12 months ago.
Of English regions, annual house price inflation was highest in the Yorkshire and the Humber, where prices increased by 3.9% in the 12 months to May 2024. London was the English region with the lowest annual inflation, where prices increased by 0.2% in the 12 months to May 2024.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS’) May 2024 UK Residential Market Survey reported a modest drop off in buyer demand. When viewed at the regional level, the most noticeable decline in buyer enquiries came in the South East and South West of England. RICS also reported an increase in the flow of new listings.
The Bank of England’s Agents summary of business conditions 2024 Q1 reported that house prices are expected to remain stable or grow modestly over the next few months, and that the reduction in mortgage rates is supporting demand.
HMRC’s UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in May 2024, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 91,000. This is 17.2% higher than 12 months ago (May 2023). Between April 2024 and May 2024, UK transactions increased by 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The Bank of England’s Money and Credit May 2024 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, decreased to 60,000 in May 2024 from 60,800 in April 2024.
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 increased by 2.2% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to May 2024, up from an increase of 1.3% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to April 2024.
At the country level, the highest annual house price percentage change in the 12 months to May 2024 was recorded in Scotland, where house prices increased by 2.5%.
England saw average house prices increase by 2.2% in the 12 months to May 2024.
Wales saw average house prices increase by 2.4% in the 12 months to May 2024.
Northern Ireland saw average house prices increase by 4.0% over the 12 months to Quarter 1 (January to March) 2024.
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 | £302,393 | 1.3% | 2.2% |
| Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2024) | £178,499 | 0.4% | 4.0% |
| Scotland | £191,435 | 0.3% | 2.5% |
| Wales | £216,002 | 2.5% | 2.4% |
| East Midlands | £245,574 | 1.0% | 3.2% |
| East of England | £337,757 | 0.6% | 1.9% |
| London | £523,376 | 3.9% | 0.2% |
| North East | £162,360 | 1.5% | 3.7% |
| North West | £217,525 | 0.9% | 2.9% |
| South East | £375,693 | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| South West | £318,223 | 0.6% | 2.3% |
| West Midlands Region | £250,787 | 2.3% | 3.0% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £209,055 | 1.9% | 3.9% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
Price changes by country and government office region
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 1.2% between April 2024 and May 2024, compared with 0.2% during the same period 12 months ago (April 2023 and May 2023). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.6% between April 2024 and May 2024.
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 | May 2024 | May 2023 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £439,590 | £424,921 | 3.5% |
| Semi-detached | £278,793 | £268,326 | 3.9% |
| Terraced | £234,048 | £229,524 | 2.0% |
| Flat or maisonette | £231,025 | £233,199 | -0.9% |
| All | £285,201 | £278,941 | 2.2% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
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 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 March 2024 and April 2024, UK HPI estimates were revised from January 2021 onwards by making use of price data processed outside the UK HPI’s normal 12-month revision period.
UK HPI will now return to the usual 12-month revision period for future releases. 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
Provisional UK HPI estimates for May 2024 are based on approximately 24,300 records for England, 5,900 for Scotland, and 1,300 for Wales. This represents 32% of HMRC’s provisional sales estimate for May 2024, as detailed in their Monthly property transactions completed in the UK with value of £40,000 or above estimates. Over time, more records will become available for recent periods, which will be used to revise UK HPI estimates and sales volumes, in line with the revision policy published by the ONS and HM Land Registry.
Sales estimates from UK HPI differ from estimates from HMRC because of different data sources, revision period size and coverage. HMRC’s Quality report states there are likely to be inaccuracies in their data because of reporting or keying errors, such as misclassification between residential and non-residential transactions. However, HMRC take steps to reduce this measurement error. Another reason for differences could be that residential property transactions, where the buyer or seller is a corporate body, company or business, are excluded from UK HPI data, but included in HMRC data.
Further information on data sources, revision policy, methods and quality is available in HM Land Registry’s UK HPI guidance.
Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year
| Country | March 2024 | March 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| England | 22,466 | 52,391 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,511 | 1,556 |
| Scotland | 7,665 | 8,143 |
| Wales | 1,327 | 2,994 |
Note: Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised 12-month volume estimate.
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
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 March 2024 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 March 2023 with the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for March 2024, volume transactions decreased by 43.5% in England, decreased by 4.1% in Scotland and decreased by 44.5% in Wales. Northern Ireland’s UK HPI volume transactions increased by 5.9% in the year to Quarter 1 2024.
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 March 2024, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, HMRC volume transactions decreased by 9.0% in England, 4.6% in Scotland, 8.4% in Wales and by 4.2% in Northern Ireland.
4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years
Sales volumes for 2020 to 2024 by country: March
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Note: The number of property transactions for March 2024 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 March 2023 with the provisional UK HPI volume estimate for March 2024, UK volume transactions decreased by 36.1%.
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 8.5% in the 12 months to March 2024.
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 March 2024 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New build | £383,796 | -1.2% | 13.1% |
| Existing resold property | £275,030 | 0.0% | -0.1% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
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 May 2024 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| First time buyer | £238,284 | 1.0% | 1.8% |
| Former owner occupier | £332,133 | 1.5% | 2.7% |
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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 May 2024 | Monthly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | £270,398 | 1.4% | 1.8% |
| Mortgage | £297,069 | 1.2% | 2.5% |
Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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