Click here to see the survey of property surveys

Pinning down a definitive value for your home is a struggle. Hordes of house-price statistics are flying about but with the market in flux, which of the range of opinions can can you trust to tell you the value of your home now?

When reading a set of numbers it pays to keep in mind how they have been compiled. An internet-based index, such as Home.co.uk or Rightmove.co.uk, gathers the asking prices of properties registered online: this means that the average house price will reflect the wishful thinking of sellers as they try to get the highest price.

Lenders such as Halifax and Nationwide tend to underestimate market prices as their surveys only include the prices agreed on homes for which they have given mortgages. As they are large mortgage lenders, this represents a significant proportion of the market, but it excludes the prime and super-prime sectors, which have many cash-buyers with no mortgages.

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The Land Registry is the most accurate house-price index as it uses the actual sale price of every property sold in the UK; however, it takes several months to compile its data. This time-lag needs to be considered, particularly given the fast-changing market mood.

Chesterton, the estate agent, publishes its poll of all the major house-price indices for May today. The poll takes into account survey biases and time delays. The Centre for Economic and Business Research compiles the calculations.

It can be helpful - and soothing - to look to Chesterton's poll of polls for a market overview, but the only absolute valuation of your home is a buyer's offer that you choose to accept: that is precisely how much your house is worth.

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