Current Property News: London gap in house prices growing.

By Steve Roulstone

The latest set of figures from the Land Registry House price Index, record prices from May this year and show the average house price split by County and Region across the whole of the Country.  The Headline Statistics concentrate on the average house price in the UK which continues to be disappointing after what was considerable hope that prices were recovering after the winter. But what the figures clearly show and the headline report fails to mention is that when looked at closer the gap between London and the rest of the country is continuing to grow.

London and the South East.

London showed an annual increase of 7.7% and the South East of 1.7% these two areas were (apart from the East) the only areas to show an increase. The stand out figure for me is the size of growth in London compared to the rest of the country and this does clearly show how an average price does not reflect what is still happening outside of the Capital.

Regional.

In the West Midlands for example, where we are based (as far as the collated figures are concerned) we have shown a monthly growth of 2.0% but we still have an annual decrease of 1.2%. This does mirror what we have seen and the level of activity Estate Agents are now reporting and reflects the overall monthly growth of 2%. But a quick glance at the rest of the Country and you can clearly see how many areas are still seeing depressed figures.

What happens in London.

Unlike the popular saying does not stay in London and even from my days in retail more years ago than I wish to remember, does eventually spread to other areas, but having seen the differential close for many years, it does seem that this effect reflects a period of sustained downturn and recession, but it is now so different that there is an argument for the Land Registry to split between London and the South East (or just London) and the rest of the Country.

True feel.

 It would probably be unacceptable from a political viewpoint, because of how bad the rest of the UK fares when considered against London, but it is probably the only way to get a truly balanced picture of what is actually happening outside of the Capitol. I like most who look at these figures on a regular basis do at times scan rather than study and I am sure like most who read them fail at times to see the true picture and for me separation should now be part of the reporting every month.