Whether you are ‘up north’, ‘down south’, in Scotland or Northern Ireland the market is now completely different. Pre-credit crunch, property markets tended to move in a ‘ripple effect’ but this trend appears to have stopped for now so it’s vital buyers and sellers make their decisions based on local expert advice rather than national or regional headlines.  What we do know is that across the board, since 2005, property price growth has slowed dramatically versus previous years, and now moving in line with inflation as opposed to above, impacting on those looking at investing in property for a pension or living.   

Latest news from the Land Registry shows what an amazingly diverse market property is in London. With average prices ranging from just under £300,000 in Barking and Dagenham to an astonishing £1,254,715 in Kensington and Chelsea. What’s interesting though is when you break away from London averages and dig down deep into what’s actually being sold, things never look quite so bad. For example, in Kensington and Chelsea although the average is over a million, one property - and it was just a flat! - was sold for a staggering £13,375,000 while I found a ‘bargain’ (!) property which had been sold for just £298,000 - the average price you would pay in London’s cheapest borough.

The Nationwide has done some fascinating analysis this month on the changes to the proportion of different movers, together with the time each take to move home. For me this kind of analysis is essential in today’s quite difficult market when we are back to so much uncertainty over the coming 12 months, as I reported last month. So how many people in your area should be moving at any one time? Is your area more or less active than the average? 

Versus last month, property prices ‘on average’ have really slowed across all countries. For Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, they are only just keeping up with inflation – which with over 50% of people who own a home, owning it outright, means no real house price growth so far this year and for those in England with just 1% increase registering, real property values are actually falling. Regionally the differences are stark. Not just from a price perspective but also from different regions showing different trends.  To find out more, read Kate's latest price report.