30 November 06 House price growth accelerates in November
Unseasonally strong growth in house sales and falling levels of supply during November have resulted in an acceleration in the rate of house price growth. Over the month house prices grew on average by 0.6%, up from 0.4% on October. The annual rate of growth is now 5.3%, the highest since August 2004.
Levels of house sales rise...
Following a modest slowdown in market activity over summer, the volume of sales agreed by agents has now reached levels similar to those seen in the late spring and early summer. Sales agreed over November, compared to October, were up 4.8% with the greatest increases in the Eastern region (10.7%), the South West (12.3%) and London (7.1%).
But supply of homes declined during November...
The growth in sales means that the supply of homes declined over November by -3.3%, the sharpest decrease for a year. The greatest squeeze on supply has been in London (-4.7%) and the South East (-6%).
House prices remain strongest in London and the South East...
Price rises in November were strongest in London (+1.2%), and the South East (+0.7%) but also in East Anglia (+0.7%). The number of price rises across the country has also spread with almost two fifths (39.3%) of the 2,300 postcode districts covered by the Hometrack survey seeing prices move higher over the month compared to just 25% in October.
Hometrack expect the recent increase in interest rates to impact on levels of activity in the months ahead with the market likely to experience a seasonal slowdown over December.
| Headline statistics | Nov-06 |
| Weighted Overall Average Price | £169,600 |
| Weighted Overall Average Price Change | 0.6% |
| Change in number of new properties listed | -3.3% |
| Change in no. of sales agreed | 4.8% |
| Sales price as a % of asking price | 95% |
| Change in number of new buyers registered | -1.3% |
| Time taken to sell (weeks) | 6.5 |
| Average number of viewings per sale | 10.6 |