The FT House Price Index is unique. The FT index is the only UK house price index based upon every residential property transaction in England and Wales recorded at the Land Registry (LR), as opposed to a data sample. The FT index thereby includes properties sold for cash and uses the final transaction prices and the complete data set in order to provide a true measure of house price inflation. We smooth the FT index house prices in order to minimise the index volatility which otherwise masks trends; thus the prices are the factual LR transaction prices recorded at LR, smoothed, seasonally and mix adjusted. For transparency, we provide a full explanation of our methodology through the links shown below.

The FT index was designed to resolve the discrepancies between indices, discussed in our “A True Measure of House Price Inflation?” – FTHPI Calibration paper here.

For a comparison of the Acadametrics mix adjustment methodology and the Case-Schiller repeat sales regression methodology (designed to provide city indices in the USA where no source of national prices comparable to LR exists) see the Meissner Satchell paper here.

For a history see “Why an FT House Price Index?” here.

The FT index was launched in September 2003 and is published in the Weekend Financial Times on the second Saturday of every month and on FT.com and on our website on the prior Friday.

APRIL KEY STATISTICS   Index 234.8 Average House Price £230,623 Monthly Change -0.2% Annual Change 4.1%   MAIN POINTS On a monthly basis, house prices in England and Wales fell by 0.2% in April, making this the second consecutive month of price falls - the first time we have seen sequential monthly falls since April 1995. On an annual basis, prices increased by 4.1%, down from 5.2% in March. This is the eighth successive month in which the annual growth rate has fallen; it is now at its lowest since February 2006. The annual rate has been declining by around 1% point each month since October 2007. London prices continue to trend down but it still has an annual growth rate of 10.7% (averaged over the last three months) which is some 4% points higher than the next highest region. Outside London, it is the South East (6.4%) that has recorded the largest annual increase. Eight of the ten regions in England and Wales now have an annual growth rate below 4% whereas a year ago none were in this position. Four regions, the North West, East Midlands, West Midlands and Wales have an annual rate below 2%. Overall, the market slowdown continues to gather momentum, spurred on by the contracting mortgage market and in spite of the strong fundamentals that underpin the market.

AVAILABLE HERE

FT House Price Index April 08 published 9th May 2008 here and accompanying:

Index Table Regional Historic Series with Interactive Charts National Historic Series Region, County and London Borough Series with Interactive Charts FTHPI Development of Forecasts Comparison of Indices with Interactive Charts Quarterly Comparison of Indices with Lagging

An interview with Peter Williams, chairman of Acadametrics, on the Cantos website 12.03.07 here.

Financial Times - recent articles here and Interactive House Price Map here.

Comparison of house price growth over the past 10 years here.