Property prices falling, stagnant and rising across the UK

Never before have we seen such enormous differences between the property price indexes from one area to another.

Northern Ireland property prices are still 50% below their 2007 peak while London is 20% above it. Despite continued talk of a ‘bubble’, all regions are, bar London, still below their 2007 heights.

So the reality is, property prices remain in recovery – not a bubble.

Why compare London to the rest of the UK?

Comparisons between London and the rest of the country are now increasingly pointless. Even quoting an average for London is as pointless as quoting one for the UK, let alone England (+10.5%), Wales(+5%), Scotland(+7.5%) and Northern Ireland (+5.5%).

Currently, according to the Nationwide, prices in London are up by 18%. Yet this is a massive mix of Harrow being up by 8% while Brent, for a reason which isn’t quite clear yet, is up by an enormous 31%.

London is truly a global city, it’s not one to be compared to the rest of the UK. Probably the closest city to London is Paris, but even this city isn’t the same as it doesn’t house a global financial community. In addition, France’s economic performance hasn’t quite recovered from the crash yet.

So, what about somewhere like New York and metropolitan areas which are up 13.5% year on year, with comments from the likes of Reuters of “prospective home buyers were champing at the bit: 45 people came to an open house late last month, according to mortgage executive Greg Block”. Sound familiar?

What about the rest of the UK?

Not all of these price increases mean you as a home owner or investor are going to benefit from the increases as just like the prices are different from one area to another, so are they different from one property on one road to another.

Top performing areas according to Nationwide are:-

• Manchester +18 year on year
• London +17% year on year
• Brighton +14% year on year
• Cambridge +14% year on year,
• Oxford +13% year on year
  
  

Worst performing areas:-

• Sunderland +1% year on year
• Coventry +2% year on year
• Newcastle +3% year on year
• York +4% year on year
• Leeds +5 % year on year

Don't forget though, this data is purely based on people who are taking out mortgages - so doesn't include any cash sales, which are still a large part of the market. 

For more information about how to assess your property market visit our Know Your Market Checklist, and for help buying and selling, visit Property Checklists. Join now to acces our FREE property checklists, including:-

• Analyse Your Property Market Checklist
• How do you Sell a House Checklist
• Renting vs Buying Checklist
• First Time Buyer Checklist
• Help to Buy New Build Checklist