Week 5, 2012: UK Quarterly House Prices

Summary: The latest Nationwide report on house prices in the UK shows that on average, prices fell in the final quarter of 2011, but that ignores important regional differences. Most noticeably, the gap between the London average and the UK average continued to widen.

What does the chart show? The blue line shows the average house price across the whole of the UK, in thousands of pounds. The red line shows the same thing, but for London.

Why is the chart interesting? House prices across the country have not changed much since the end of 2009, after they recovered from the initial crash during 2008. The price in the final quarter of 2011 was down just over 1% on the previous quarter - but up just over 1% on the final quarter of 2010. London prices, on the other hand, continue to climb, and are currently 81% higher than the UK average. In fact, current London prices are now just £5,500 lower than their all-time peak, in the final quarter of 2007.