House prices in the north soar, while prices move down in the south
The price of property in the UK is varying according to region, says a research. Price of houses across the country are showing contrasting trends, with prices of properties in the north going up, while property prices in the south of the country moving down, said lender Nationwide Building Society. For example, the price of property in Manchester has been up, fuelled by growth in employment and record low mortgage rates.
The costs of property in the northern cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh have registered an increase in recent times. The capital city of London is among the cities adversely affected in the property sector and it has registered low property prices in many years. Although, the property costs have been falling for some time, it is the first time that prices have gone down to this level in the capital. House prices in the capital have registered their first annual decline in eight years, making it the worst performing region in the country. To be precise, its previous worst performance was in the year 2005 when it recorded the lowest price across the country, according to data by the lender.
Data published by the lender indicates a marked slowdown in London, while prices in other parts of the country continue to increase. The price growth in the capital has been falling for some time but it is the first time since the financial crisis that figures have been revealed. London’s average prices fell 0.6pc in the year to September, compared to the national average growth of 2pc. The figures revealed a north-south divide as property costs in the northern parts of the country including West and East Midlands, Yorkshire and the north are going upwards but it is the opposite in case of the southern parts of the country.
The findings by the lender were confirmed by data from Hometrack, the house price analysts. According to the figures by the analysts, house prices have gone up in cities of Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburg outsmarting those in the capital that lags in overall growth. Hometrack said that Manchester recorded an annual house price growth of 7.3pc, Birmingham’s rate of growth was 6.7pc and Edinburgh was at 6.6pc.
The analyst said that the capital’s price growth rate is 1.9pc. The head of research at Hometrack, Richard Donnell, said that the pattern of the market will continue to be the so throughout the year and into the 2018. He said the momentum in price growth across regional cities will also continue to be the same. The average annual growth in house prices across the UK’s top 20 cities came down to 4.9% from 6.6% in the previous year.
But the figures have changed slightly in the past few months and prices have been up 2.5% between June and August. Data by Hometrack also showed that the value of property in the biggest 20 cities in the UK contribute 43% of the total value of the UK’s housing market. The total value of property in the largest cities stands at £3 trillion.
