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Housing market: Economic indicators

Economic indicators are quick-read summaries of the latest data focusing on different aspects of the UK economy. The full suite of indicators can be found on the main Economic Indicators page.

House prices

House prices, as measured by the UK House Price Index, increased by 1.4% between July 2025 and July 2026. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices decreased by 0.2% between June 2026 and July 2026.

House prices changed at different rates across the UK over the year to July 2026. Excluding Northern Ireland, house prices grew fastest in the North East and North West. Prices in Northern Ireland grew faster but they are measured over a different period (the year to Q2 of 2026) which means they are affected by changes to stamp duty in April 2025. House prices fell in London and the South West.

source: UK House Price Index: data downloads July 2026, index seasonally adjusted

Mortgage approvals

Bank of England data on the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchases are a leading indicator of house sales.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases in July 2026 were down 15% on a year ago and down 4% on June 2026.

There were 56,053 mortgage approvals in July 2026, compared with 65,905 in July 2025.

source: Bank of England. Series LPMVTVX

Housing starts and completions

were 33,960 house building starts (seasonally adjusted) in England in Q1 2026, a 9% decrease compared with the previous quarter, but a 18% increase compared with the same quarter of 2025.

There were 37,170 house building completions (seasonally adjusted) in England in Q1 2025, a 1% increase compared with the previous quarter, and a 3% increase compared with the same quarter of 2025.

There was a peak of 68,350 starts in Q2 2023, largely due to house builders bringing forward the start of work to avoid new building regulatory standards. This lowered starts in subsequent quarters. The new standards relate to energy performance and electric vehicle charging points and were introduced from 15 June 2023.

source: MHCLG. Table 222: permanent dwellings started and completed, by tenure, England (quarterly seasonally adjusted)

Next updates

This page is updated when new data is published. The next source updates will be:

• UK house price index (HM Land Registry), 21 October 2026

• Money and credit (Bank of England), 30 September 2026

• House-building (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), 17 September 2026