HOUSE PRICES IN THE NORTH STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP WITH INFLATION
PARTS of Greater Manchester and York are the only places in the North where house prices have increased above inflation since the market crash of 2007. House prices have gone up across the UK, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics.
The average home in the UK cost £283,000 in the 12 months to March 2024.
That’s an increase of £5,000, or 1.8%, compared to the same time last year, when the average home cost £278,000.
Inverclyde in Scotland is the UK’S property hotspot. The average home there cost £124,216 in the last year. That’s an increase of 14.5%, the largest percentage increase in the country.
Kensington and Chelsea, meanwhile, is the most expensive place to buy a home. Properties in the London borough sold for an average of £1.19 million each in the last 12 months.
While property prices are up across much of the country, the South has seen far bigger rises in real-terms compared to the North.
Only seven local authorities in the North have seen a real-term increase in house prices compared to before the 2007 financial crash and six of those are in Greater Manchester.
Homes in Trafford sold for an average of £356,859 each in the 12 months to March 2024.
That’s 15.0% higher than would be expected had prices increased in-line with inflation since March 2007.
No other council area in the North has outperformed inflation as well as Trafford.
Meanwhile, in Manchester the average home costs £238,044.
That’s 12.9% more than would be expected had prices gone up in-line with inflation.
In Salford homes cost 10.5% more than they would had they increased according to inflation.
In Stockport they are 4.8% more expensive in real-terms, in Bury 1.4% more expensive, and in Oldham 0.1% more expensive.
The only other place in the North to have seen prices rise more than inflation is York.
The average home in the ancient city cost £314,438 in the year to March. That’s 0.3% more than had prices increased in-line with inflation.