UK House Price Index for December 2018 by the ONS

• Average house prices in the UK grew by 2.5% in the year to December 2018 which is the lowest annual growth rate since July 2013, when it was 2.3%

This slowdown is driven mainly by a slowdown in the south and south and east of England. 

• The fastest growing region is the West Midlands - 5.2%, up from 4.1% in the year to November 2018. In London prices fell 0.6% over the year.

• The average UK house price was £231,000 in December 2018 which is £6,000 higher than in December 2017. The average price of a property in England was £247,886.

• London remains the most expensive area to buy a property with an average cost of £474,000. The most expensive London borough to live in in December was Kensington and Chelsea, where the average house cost £1.4 million. The cheapest London borough to buy a property was Barking and Dagenham, where an average house cost £303,000.

• New build London property average price in October 2018 = £502,915 or 1% annual change.

Average price by a property type

Houses: All houses across England managed an increase in average price in December 2018 – comparing with the same month in the previous year. Semi-detached houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 3.3% in the year to December 2018 to £233,000.

Flats and maisonettes: the average price for this category fell by 0.4% in the year to December 2018 which was driven by negative growth in London which accounts for around 30% of England flats and maisonette transactions.

• Sales volumes for London over the past 5 years 

October 2014 = 10.773

October 2015 = 10,926

October 2016 = 8,100

October 2017 = 7,990

October 2018 = 6,670

For the full report produced by the Office of National Statistics CLICK HERE