Q1 2004 new house building statistics UK 14/02/06
In Great Britain the average anticipated selling price of new homes started during quarter one of 2004, increased by six per cent on the same period in 2003.
There was bad news for first time buyers who found their ability to buy fell in the first quarter. NHBC, the leading new home warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, has published these figures in its New House-Building Statistics booklet for quarter one 2004.
The average anticipated selling price of new homes in Great Britain (started by NHBC registered builders) was £170,000 during the first quarter of 2004, a six per cent increase on quarter one 2003 (£160,000). Based on actual selling prices, the proportion of new homes priced at over £100,000 went up to 89 per cent, a significant increase on the same period in 2003 (80 per cent).
NHBC's first time buyers' ability to buy index decreased by seven points during the quarter to 87 (quarter four was 94.) The index is based on a formula which takes into account the average cost of homes bought by first time buyers, average income and mortgage interest rates (from the Nationwide Building Society). The higher the index, the greater the ability to buy.
Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, says:
"House building in the first quarter of this year continues to be buoyant, showing a slight increase in the number of NHBC private and social sector registrations compared to the same period last year."
UK wide figures show a total of 48,502 applications to start new homes during quarter one of 2004, showing less than one per cent increase on the same period in 2003 (48,136). Of that total, 42,906 relate to private sector activity (i.e. excluding housing associations), showing little change on the same quarter of 2003 (42,634). Housing association starts totalled 5,596 - an increase of one per cent on quarter one 2003 (5,546).
NHBC UK figures show that there were 33,709 new build completions during quarter one of 2004, a 13 per cent decrease on the same quarter last year (38,670).
The figure for the average daily sales of new homes in quarter one 2004 was 542, an increase of six per cent on the same period in 2003 (512).
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