Commentary by Ruban Selvanayagam

• According to the latest UK House Price Index, average house prices saw an annual price rise of 2.2% (to December 2019);
• The latest Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index reported that Edinburgh saw the greatest year-on-year house price growth at 5.9%.  This was followed by Nottingham (5.4%), Leicester (5.3%), Birmingham (4.5%), Liverpool (4.2%) and Manchester (4.1%)
• The most recent Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report stated that buyer enquiries, agreed sales and new instructions all rose over January; surveyors remain upbeat on the outlook for sales in the coming year and house prices rose at the national level, driven by a turnaround in London and the South East.