How do I search for sold house prices in the UK?

There are many reasons why you might want to know how much a house is worth. Maybe you’re selling your current home and want to make sure you’re putting it on the market at the right price. It could be that you’re looking to buy a new house in a particular area and want to know whether you can afford to live there. Or you might just be curious about the value of a particular property.

Whatever your reasons for looking up house prices, apps like Rightmove, Zoopla, On the Market and Purplebricks make it easy to find out how much sellers want for their houses. Finding sold house prices can be more tricky, but if you want to get a more accurate reading of the housing market, they are important to know.

This is because houses that are advertised at less than their market value can sell for more if there are multiple offers that bid the price up. Also, some estate agents recommend sellers to list their properties for more than what they’re worth, as there’s often a lot of back-and-forth between the buyer and seller during the negotiation process before an offer is finally accepted.

In this guide, we’ll tell you how to search for sold house prices, so you can find out what a house is actually worth. We’ll also reveal the average sold house prices for some of the UK’s most popular locations.

How do I search for sold house prices?

There are several ways in which you can find out how much a house has sold for, including contacting an estate agent who will be able to provide you with the information for a fee and searching for the data yourself on the government’s HM Land Registry website.

One of the easiest ways to find out what UK houses sold for, though, is to use a property check tool on a website like RightMove or Zoopla.

Continue reading for more information on sold property prices.

How do online house price checkers work?

To give you a clear view of the housing market, some online estate agents provide sold price data for property sales in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Their aim is to help you make an informed purchasing or selling decision. 

In most cases, all you need to do is enter the postcode of the area you’re interested in and use filters to narrow down the list of results. In just a few seconds, you’ll get residential and commercial sold house prices that match your criteria. 

Some of the common filters you can choose from to narrow down the results include:

  • Property type
  • Search radius
  • Tenure
  • Year sold

Depending on which property checker you use, you can also get sold house prices for popular locations. 

Where does sold house price data come from?

The data on sold house prices in the UK comes from the HM Land Registry, the Land Register of Scotland and the Land Registers of Northern Ireland

These departments work with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to operate the UK House Price Index (HPI), which shares up-to-date house prices data and estimates periodical changes in prices.

What is the average sold house price for the UK?

According to data from Zoopla, in the last 12 months, houses in the UK sold for an average of £326,176. However, the average sold prices differ depending on property types. The average sold prices for each type of property in the UK are as follows:

  • Detached houses: £481,638
  • Semi-detached houses: £300,139
  • Terraced houses: £282,755
  • Flats: £267,227

In England, properties sold for an average of £350,193 in the last 12 months. Here are the average sold prices for each type of house:

  • Detached houses: £498,419
  • Semi-detached houses: £309,051
  • Terraced houses: £294,551
  • Flats: £289,965

In Scotland, houses are cheaper, with properties selling for an average of £207,328 in the last 12 months. The average sold prices for each type of property are:

  • Detached houses: £327,230
  • Semi-detached houses: £205,737
  • Terraced houses: £177,213
  • Flats: £165,751

What are the average sold house prices for some of the UK’s most popular locations?

Again, based on data from Zoopla, below are the average sold house prices for different UK cities.

Aberdeen

In the last 12 months, properties in Aberdeen sold for an average price of £199,711, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: 325,936
  • Semi-detached houses: £231,621
  • Terraced houses: £186,890
  • Flats: £115,876
Birmingham

In the last 12 months, properties in Birmingham sold for an average price of £237,394, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £439,894
  • Semi-detached houses: £242,774
  • Terraced houses: £212,919
  • Flats: £144,250
Brighton

In the last 12 months, properties in Brighton sold for an average price of £452,577, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £686,106
  • Semi-detached houses: £471,774
  • Terraced houses: £513,007
  • Flats: £303,303
Bristol

In the last 12 months, properties in Bristol sold for an average price of £364,656, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £529,394
  • Semi-detached houses: £365,755
  • Terraced houses: £342,632
  • Flats: £261,470
Cambridge

In the last 12 months, properties in Cambridge sold for an average price of £491,204, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £695,242
  • Semi-detached houses: £441,050
  • Terraced houses: £431,370
  • Flats: £279,716
Cardiff

In the last 12 months, properties in Cardiff sold for an average price of £283,199, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £472,506
  • Semi-detached houses: £296,682
  • Terraced houses: £251,425
  • Flats: £161,610
Coventry

In the last 12 months, properties in Coventry sold for an average price of £245,381, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £429,620
  • Semi-detached houses: £252,186
  • Terraced houses: £194,883
  • Flats: £137,667
Edinburgh

In the last 12 months, properties in Edinburgh sold for an average price of £318,015, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £663,219
  • Semi-detached houses: £427,302
  • Terraced houses: £387,008
  • Flats: £252,930
Glasgow

In the last 12 months, properties in Glasgow sold for an average price of £203,305, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £395,651
  • Semi-detached houses: £230,920
  • Terraced houses: £190,051
  • Flats: £159,827
Leeds

In the last 12 months, properties in Leeds sold for an average price of £254,132, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £426,545
  • Semi-detached houses: £246,426
  • Terraced houses: £198,689
  • Flats: £153,896
Liverpool

In the last 12 months, properties in Liverpool sold for an average price of £204,878, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £369,539
  • Semi-detached houses: £224,776
  • Terraced houses: £148,590
  • Flats: £146,087
London

In the last 12 months, properties in London sold for an average price of £722,668, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £1,257,674
  • Semi-detached houses: £834,172
  • Terraced houses: £830,521
  • Flats: £523,828
Manchester

In the last 12 months, properties in Manchester sold for an average price of £238,519, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £375,276
  • Semi-detached houses: £258,710
  • Terraced houses: £196,605
  • Flats: £171,223
Nottingham

In the last 12 months, properties in Nottingham sold for an average price of £245,215, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £356,193
  • Semi-detached houses: £215,922
  • Terraced houses: £166,645
  • Flats: £145,616
Plymouth

In the last 12 months, properties in Plymouth sold for an average price of £229,943, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £398,066
  • Semi-detached houses: £242,001
  • Terraced houses: £203,972
  • Flats: £140,997
Sheffield

In the last 12 months, properties in Sheffield sold for an average price of £226,285, with the average sold prices for each type of property as follows:

  • Detached houses: £375,308
  • Semi-detached houses: £212,132
  • Terraced houses: £180,638
  • Flats: £141,422

Summary

Whether you’re selling your current home, you’re looking to buy a new house in a particular area or you’re just curious to know a particular property’s value, you may be wondering how you can search for sold house prices.

While apps like Rightmove and Zoopla make it easy to find out how much sellers want for their houses, finding sold house prices can be more tricky. But they’re important to know if you want to get a more accurate reading of the housing market.

There are several ways in which you can find out how much a house has sold for, including: 

  • Contacting an estate agent who will be able to provide you with the information for a fee 
  • Searching for the data yourself on the government’s HM Land Registry website
  • Using a property check tool on a website like RightMove or Zoopla

Property tools work by providing sold price data for property sales in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, based on the criteria you enter. 

The data on sold house prices in the UK comes from various land registers, which work with the Office for National Statistics to operate the UK House Price Index.

According to data from Zoopla, in the last 12 months, houses in the UK sold for an average of £326,176, with average sold prices differing depending on property types. 

In England, properties sold for an average of £350,193 in the last 12 months, while in Scotland, they’re cheaper, selling for an average of £207,328.

The average prices for sold properties in some of the UK’s most popular cities are as follows:

  • Aberdeen — £199,711
  • Birmingham — £237,394
  • Brighton — £452,577
  • Bristol — £364,656
  • Cambridge — £491,204
  • Cardiff — £283,199
  • Coventry — £245,381
  • Edinburgh — £318,015
  • Glasgow — £203,305
  • Leeds — £254,132
  • Liverpool — £204,878
  • London — £722,668
  • Manchester — £238,519
  • Nottingham — £245,215
  • Plymouth — £229,943
  • Sheffield — £226,285