What is your house actually worth? 20/08/2010

Author: Jeni Browne Posted on: 20 August 2010

As The National Statistician reviews house price indices to decide whether there are gaps in consumer information, combined with this months conflicting reviews of what house prices are actually doing, people are naturally wondering how much their properties are actually worth.

I took the liberty of looking at the HPIs from various providers - Land Registry, Nationwide, Halifax and Rightmove.  According to Rightmove, house prices are up 4.3% from this time last year, however conversely, Land Registry state an increment of 8.4% - nearly double.

House Price Indices are calculated, largely using information on sold prices from a sample taken geographically across the UK.    It is worth noting at this point therefore, that this figure is an average across all regions.  House prices will vary depending on where you are based geographically, and therefore, some areas have seen larger increases that others.  An example of this would be that in 2009, property in Wales dropped by 0.25% but in London grew by 7% (according to the Nationwide figures).

The review by the National Statistician is due to be completed in November, and the results will hopefully lead people to better information which will give consistent and uniform data, which as well as giving a general overview for the whole of the UK, will enable people to understand the situation where they live, therefore giving them information which is relevant to them.