It can seem at times like every property professional is a wannabe Mystic Meg. Predicting price rises, surges in demand or impending doom. If you’d like to join their ranks or understand how some of the data is collected to enable this soothsaying ability, the above chart features the UK’s main house price indexes.

• Halifax – Mortgage lending based
• Nationwide – Mortgage lending based
• Land Registry – Sold price achieved
• Acadata – Sold price achieved
• Rightmove – Listed properties on portal

The chart outlines the key data used to assimilate the figures from the top five UK property indices. You will see each one differs slightly, collecting information from different resources and at different times. So as with any forecast, it a good indication but it isn’t all-seeing.