The latest research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has revealed that the West Midlands has been the best performing housing market since the Bank of England started to raise interest rates, based on seasonally adjusted rates of house price growth.
GetAgent analysed house price performance across each region of Britain since the Bank of England first started to increase interest rates in December 2021. GetAget then looked at how the market is really fairing by analysing seasonally adjusted house prices during the same time period.
What are seasonally adjusted house prices?
Seasonal adjustment takes the seasonal variations of the property market into account in order to provide a far more accurate picture of market health. It takes into account the seasonal lull over Christmas, for example, and in doing so provides a far more accurate picture of the property market.
West Midlands tops the table
The research shows that when analysing the market based on non-seasonally adjusted house price growth, it’s the North East that ranks top, with the region seeing a 10% increase since December 2021.
However, once house price performance has been seasonally adjusted, this 10% increase is revised to 9.6%. While this remains the second strongest market performance of all regions of Britain, the North East is knocked off the top spot by the West Midlands.
Since December 2021, house prices across the West Midlands region have increased by 9.4%. However, once seasonally adjusted, this rate of growth climbs to 9.7%, the highest increase of all regions.
Markets with the least seasonal influence
The research also shows that it’s the West Midlands, the East Midlands and East of England that are home to the least seasonally influenced property markets.
Both the general rate of house price growth and the seasonally adjusted rate of house price growth have sat at 5.3% across the East of England since interest rates started to increase, meaning the region has seen no seasonal influence when it comes to house price performance.
Both the East Midlands and the West Midland are the only regions of Britain to have seen the rate of seasonally adjusted house price growth climb at a greater rate than general house price growth.
Across the East Midlands, seasonally adjusted house prices have increased by 0.5% more, while this higher rate of seasonally adjusted growth sits at 0.3% in the West Midlands.
Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, said, “We often hear those involved within the property transaction process talk about seasonal influences on the market, whether it be a reduction in buyer demand levels or the rate of house price growth.
It’s an important factor to consider, particularly when pricing your home for the market and seasonally adjusted market data can give you a far more accurate picture of what your home is likely to achieve.
Of course, as is often the case, seasonal influence can differ quite drastically depending on which region you are looking to sell a home in. For example, in Scotland the seasonally adjusted rate of house price growth has trailed the general rate of growth by 2.1%, while in the East Midlands, it sits 0.5% higher.”
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