- Home Page
- Somerset Profile
- Electoral Division Profiles
- Local Community Networks
- Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
- Census 2021
- Census 2011
- People & Neighbourhoods
- Health and Wellbeing
- Crime & Community Safety
- Economy & Jobs
- Education, Skills and Learning
- Environment
- Housing
- Travel and Access
- SINePost
- Children & Young People
- Older People
- Somerset Maps
- Somerset Geographies
- County Council Election Results
- Contact us
House Prices 2015 factsheet
Published: July 2015
- Economic Factsheet - House Prices 2015
Download this factsheet as a PDF
- Median is the preferred measure for average house prices rather than the ‘mean’, which is skewed by extremes at either end of the price scale. Lower quartile price provides an indication of the entry level house price in a local market, typically those purchased by first-time buyers.
- Affordability ratios show the relationship of house prices to earnings and can be useful on either a median or lower quartile basis to indicate the accessibility of the local housing market.
House prices (Q2 2013)
| Area | Total sales (Q2 2013) | Median price (Q2 2013) | Quarterly change | Annual change | Lower quartile price (Q2 2013) | Quarterly change | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | 1,860 | £173,570 | 0.90% | -3.60% | £136,000 | 1.50% | -1.40% |
| Mendip | 411 | £182,500 | 2.80% | 1.70% | £148,000 | 2.10% | 0.00% |
| Sedgemoor | 437 | £165,000 | 3.10% | -2.90% | £125,000 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| South Somerset | 521 | £172,000 | 1.20% | -8.00% | £135,000 | 6.30% | 0.00% |
| Taunton Deane | 384 | £174,500 | -3.00% | -7.20% | £139,975 | 1.40% | -4.10% |
| West Somerset | 107 | £175,000 | -7.70% | -5.40% | £135,000 | -1.80% | 1.50% |
| England | 164,326 | £184,000 | 2.20% | 1.10% | £125,000 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Source: Sales – Land Registry, prices – Department for Communities and Local Government, Tables 582 & 583
(https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-housing-market-and-house-prices)
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government, Tables 576 & 577
In the second quarter of 2013, the median house price in Somerset was £173,570, an increase of 0.9% on the previous quarter but a decrease of 3.6% on the previous year. Mendip had the highest median price of all the districts at £182,500.
Somerset’s lower quartile price for the same period was £136,000, 8.8% higher than the England figure.
Help to Buy Scheme
Number of completed equity loans
| May 2014 | % of Somerset | % of LEP | % of England | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | 390 | 41.0% | 1.7% | |
| Mendip | 53 | 13.6% | 5.6% | 0.2% |
| Sedgemoor | 107 | 27.4% | 11.2% | 0.5% |
| South Somerset | 87 | 22.3% | 9.1% | 0.4% |
| Taunton Deane | 141 | 36.2% | 14.8% | 0.6% |
| West Somerset | 2 | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| Heart of the SW LEP | 952 | 4.2% | ||
| England | 22,831 |
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government, Help to Buy scheme monthly statistics
Since its launch on 1 April 2013, 390 equity loans have been completed in Somerset under the Government ‘Help to Buy’ scheme. The majority of these were in Taunton Deane (141) and Sedgemoor (107). Across the LEP area, there have been 952 loans so far under Help to Buy.
Affordability
Source: DCLG Table 577 (No data for West Somerset)
Source: DCLG Table 576
House prices in Somerset are high in relation to earnings. The median house price in Somerset is 7.2 times the median earnings in the County, compared to 6.7 times for England as a whole. Within Somerset, Mendip and Sedgemoor have median ratios higher than the County (7.8 to 1 and 7.3 to 1 respectively). Lower quartile house prices in Somerset are 7.5 times greater than lower quartile earnings. This ratio is highest in West Somerset (9.2 to 1) and Mendip (8.4 to 1), indicating significant difficulties for first-time buyers in their ability to purchase a property.
Source: House Price Statistics for Small Areas (2015)
In 2014 property sales were greatest in South Somerset with over 3,000 properties sold, of which over 1,000 properties were detached.
West Somerset had the smallest number of sales with only 647 over the same period (2013-2014). The average property price in West Somerset in 2014 was £200,000.
Read our SINePost monthly newsletter
Did you know?
In 2011, there were 6,071 ‘workless’ households in Somerset with dependent children (households with no adults in employment). - 2011 Census