House Price Index

The Primelocation.com House Price Index is a unique housing market indicator, based on the properties listed on Primelocation.com. The Index monitors stock levels and asking prices of properties in different regions.

Using a core base of over 2,000 agent firms which have appeared on the site over that time, fluctuations in property types (including the ratio of houses to flats and the size of the properties) are taken into account to ensure that the Indices are a true representation of what is happening in the prime property sector.

The Primelocation.com House Price Index is the only market index to represent the prime property market and covers the London and country sales markets, as well as the prime London rental market.

  • March 2008

    prime property sale prices continue to increase, while prime London rental prices soar to record levels

    The divergence between the prime London market and the mainstream sector continues to grow. All of the publicity in recent times has been concentrated on the mainstream market. The impact of the credit crunch continues to be felt, particularly around mortgages, with some lenders withdrawing products for buyers with smaller deposits and others withdrawing new mortgage lending altogether. However, prime London asking prices hit new heights in March, up a further 3.3%, surpassing £1.3 million for the first time. All regions have witnessed solid growth in asking prices, with Central London the strongest performer. view PDF

  • February 2008

    prime property prices rise again in February 2008

    Given the current turmoil in the money markets and the uncertainty that continues to be fuelled by the impact of the credit crunch, the prime London property market has demonstrated some resilience so far in 2008. While the mainstream property market stutters under the combined pressures of tightened lending criteria, buyer caution and seller apathy, the prime London market has put in another solid performance in February 2008. view PDF

  • January 2008

    it's a tale of two markets as prime London asking prices rise again, while the prime Country and mainstream markets continue to struggle

    The rather gloomy picture of the prime property market in November and December 2007, illustrated by the Primelocation.com House Price Index, reflected a mood of caution from buyers alongside a glut of potential sellers attempting to achieve a sale before prices declined even further. This difficult combination led to a fall in prices and a reduction in transaction levels. However, the start of 2008 has already witnessed a significant change in the stand-off between buyers and sellers. The volume of property for sale across prime London has plummeted, down 10.7% in just one month, as potential sellers decide to wait for more favourable selling conditions. This double-digit fall in the number of properties for sale is the largest single monthly drop since the Index began and the impact has led to a temporary recovery in asking prices. Average asking prices have increased by 3.4% since December. view PDF

  • December 2007

    prime country property asking prices fall significantly in December, while prime London prices stall

    The prime London sales market ends 2007 with average prices rising by just 0.1% since November and with annual price growth of 13.0%, down from a peak of 31.2% witnessed back in June. Perhaps the most surprising element of the prime property market in 2007 has been the speed with which market sentiment changed, from the record price growth and property values achieved in the height of the summer, to the struggling and increasingly cautious market currently being experienced not just in London but across the country. Meanwhile, the prime country sales market has seen the largest fall in prices recorded since the Index began back in January 2004. The drop of 1.3% in average prices since November comes on the back of three successive months of falling prices. view PDF

  • November 2007

    it's a mixed picture for prime London property prices in November, but prime country prices fall for the second month in succession

    After three successive months of price reductions across the prime London property sector, one could be forgiven for expecting further falls in November. However, average prices in prime London achieved a marginal monthly increase of 0.4%. While the majority of London regions saw a drop in prices in November, the statistical dominance of high-value property in the 'golden postcodes' has helped keep the overall capital in positive average price growth. The over-riding picture remains subdued in November. Meanwhile, after a strong period of price growth throughout the summer, prime country property prices have started to slip into reverse, down 0.4% in November, and falling for the second month in succession. view PDF

  • October 2007

    record stock levels of prime London and prime country property fuel further reductions in average sale prices

    For the third consecutive month, prime London property prices have declined, with prices in October down 0.8% on last month. Since August 2007, the average price of a prime London property has fallen by over £22,000. However, the superprime market is withstanding the bumpier conditions witnessed in the wider property market and this is reflected in Central London, where prices have increased by 1.5% on last month. Like the prime London sales market, the prime country sales market has witnessed an increase in the number of properties for sale, up 40.0% on last year and up 5.5% on last month alone. After a period of stagnation, in which prices have failed to produce any kind of growth over the last two months, the recent surge in property stock seems finally to have impacted negatively on asking prices, which fall by 0.3% from last month. view PDF

  • September 2007

    prime London sale and rental prices decline for the second consecutive month

    Average prime London property prices fell for the second month in succession in September 2007, down 1.3% on August. The drop in prices equates to the average home losing over £14,000 in value in just one month. September 2007 marks the second month in a row where no monthly price growth has occurred in the prime country property market. The so-called 'credit crunch' has begun to spread uncertainty throughout the property market and the impact is starting to be realised, as some key regions record a drop in average prices month-on-month. view PDF

  • August 2007

    prices for prime London property fall in August, while prime country property prices stall

    Data from July 2007 highlighted the first slowdown in annual price inflation for nearly 18 months and this trend has continued into August, with annual price inflation slowing to 26.9%. Although still substantially outperforming the rest of the country, August's figure is some way down from the peak of 31.7% witnessed in June 2007 when annual price growth was at its most vigorous. Indeed, the signs are that the market is beginning to cool, with monthly prices recording a second consecutive drop in prime London, down 1.1% since July. This decline in prices has wiped over £13,000 off the average sales price of a prime London property in just one month. view PDF

  • July 2007

    annual prime London price growth slows for the first time in seventeen months, while prime country property prices surge ahead

    The dramatic annual growth in prime London property prices continues, but slows for the first time in seventeen months, from 31.8% in June 2007 to 30.0% in July 2007. Although prices are still rising month-on-month across the region, the Index reports the slowest monthly price rise since April 2006, up just 0.7% between June and July 2007. In the prime rental market, July 2007 witnessed a strong 5.2% rise in the number of rental properties on the market as activity intensifies, fuelled by both the personal and corporate lettings markets. As such, average weekly prices have dropped by 0.8% from £971 in June to £964 in July, while annual growth stood at 10.5%. view PDF

  • June 2007

    the prime property sales and rental markets continue to break all records and to outperform the mainstream property market

    Annual price inflation in the prime London property market has risen for the seventeenth consecutive month, pushing the average price of a prime London property beyond £1.2 million. The latest figures point to a 33.9% increase in sale prices over the last 12 months, the highest annual rise since the Index began back in January 2004. For some time, the prime country market has been overshadowed by the record price inflation witnessed in the capital. However, over the last few months, the market has begun setting records in its own right. A 10.2% rise in average prices is the largest annual rise in over two years, while the average price of a prime country property now stands at a record £542,481. view PDF