UK house prices rise by 10% over the year but sales start to slow

UK house prices rose by 10% in the year to May, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.9% between April and May this year, compared with an increase of 0.5% during the same period in 2020.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in May this year, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 114,940.

This is 138.2% higher than a year ago.

However, there are signs that the housing market is slowing down. Between April and May, UK transactions decreased by 3.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

House price growth was strongest in the North West where prices increased by 15.2% in the year to May. The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices increased by 5.2%.

In England, the May data shows that house prices rose by 0.4% compared with April.

The regional data indicates that:

• the North East experienced the greatest monthly price rise, up by 1.4%

• the East of England saw the lowest monthly price growth, with a fall of 1.0%

• the North West experienced the greatest annual price rise, up by 15.2%

• London saw the lowest annual price growth, with a rise of 5.2%

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