House price indices differ in their coverage. The Nationwide and Halifax include only sales on which they approve the mortgage, roughly 8% and 20% respectively of the 75% of sales which are mortgagefinanced. Meanwhile, the Land Registry includes mortgage-financed sales from all lenders, cash sales (25% of the total) as well as auction sales (2-3%) including repossessions (1-2%), both of which will hardly feature in the lenders’ data. But, unlike the lenders, the Land Registry excludes new-build (10%). Given that, is one index a better guide to current trends than another?
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