Week 22, 2013: Real House Prices

Summary: The Economic Research Council's first annual property event, "Your Property: Boom or Bust?", is due to be held on Tuesday 4th June. In preparation for that, we take a look at the history of house prices across the UK since 1988.

What does the chart show? The chart shows the average quarterly house price in today's money for a number of regions: the whole of the UK (in black), London (in red), the South West (in green), the West Midlands (in blue), and the North (in orange).

Why is the chart interesting? The 2007 peak was much more defined in some regions than others, but represented the high point across the country nevertheless. Since then, there have been varying degrees of recovery, with London bouncing back fairly strongly, most of the country experiencing a mild recovery before falling away again, and some areas like the north of England not recovering at all. The differential between house prices in London and the North is now at almost the highest level it has ever been.

To find out what will happen in the future, you'll have to come and listen to our panel of experts on the 4th of June (tickets available here).