Why the average UK house price ranges from £268k to £378k

Research by ValuQ: we compared the most recent published average UK house price from the five sources people quote most, and measured the gap between them.

How can the average UK house price be five different numbers?

Because the five most-quoted sources are not measuring the same thing. Some track what sellers are asking, some track what mortgage lenders approve, one models an estimate, and one records what actually completed. Here is where each one stands on its latest reading.

The highest figure, Rightmove's £378,304, sits £110,172 above the lowest, the ONS figure of £268,132. That is not a rounding difference. It is two sources describing the same national market and disagreeing by the price of a small flat.

Why do the figures disagree by so much?

• Asking prices (Rightmove) are what sellers list at, before any negotiation. They run highest because they are hopes, not deals, and unsold expensive homes pile up in the figure.
• Mortgage-approval prices (Halifax, Nationwide) come from each lender's own approvals. They are timely but exclude the roughly one in three buyers who pay cash and never touch a mortgage.
• Estimated values (Zoopla) come from a computer model applied to millions of homes, so the average is a modelled figure rather than a record of money changing hands.
• Completed sale prices (ONS and HM Land Registry) are the actual prices homes sold for. They are the most complete picture, but they lag by six to eight weeks because they wait for sales to legally complete.

The dates matter too. On any given day the ONS is reporting March, the lenders are reporting April, and Rightmove and Zoopla are reporting May. The average UK house price is not one number at one moment. It is five numbers spread across three months.

What should a seller take from this?

Treat any single average with caution, including the one an agent quotes you. With five very different national figures available, an agent can pick whichever one flatters your home. The honest way to price is to compare recent sold prices for similar homes near you against more than one agent's valuation, and to ask each agent to show the evidence behind their number.

Any agent can find a national average that flatters your home. Only the street can tell you what it is worth.

Seeing several views before you commit is the whole idea. ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, so you compare every figure, and the evidence behind it, on a single screen before you speak to anyone. It is free for sellers and buyers, always.