There are some notable regional variations among the raft of house price indexes that have been published in the early part of 2019.
The data grabbing the headlines is of slow growth nationally, tied in to a feeling of uncertainty surrounding Brexit. But a deeper analysis reveals some interesting nuggets of information that could help savvy investors keen to know more of how localised markets are faring.
How the London market is doing always catches the eye, but looking away from the top ranked boroughs, in terms of price, is advisable.
Kensington & Chelsea and the City of Westminster recorded falls of over 20% in 2018 according to Your Move, while the City of London saw them rise by 13% to an average of £966,000. But looking further out on the map of the capital shows some commuter-friendly suburbs where prices have gone up from lower starting bases.
Look south and east in London
Merton in south London – around the end of the Northern Line – had an uptick of 7% to just under £682,000, although the Your Move report points out that one sale of a £15m detached home near the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club boosted that figure. Redbridge, on the Central Line to the east of the city, recorded a rise of 4.4% to an average of a shade less than £480k.
Looking to the north-west of England sees prices in Greater Manchester heading just over £200k for the year, thanks to a rise of 4.8%. Warrington saw a rise of 6% in 2018 to just under £234k, reflecting its handy location for commuting to both Manchester and Liverpool. Average prices on Merseyside also rose, going up by 3.6% to around £174k.
The West Midlands market has also had a reasonable year, with the area including Birmingham and its immediate surroundings areas experiencing an uplift of 5.3% in 2018, to an average of £209k in Your Move’s data. Staffordshire and Worcestershire, both commutable into the second city, saw rises of 3.4% and 2.9% respectively. With a strong local economy and large infrastructure projects, like HS2 and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, on the horizon the area is well set for further improvement.
Surge in south-east Wales
And the south-east of Wales also recorded some significant price rises last year. Tolls on the Severn River crossings came to an end in late 2018, and Newport’s proximity to the now free crossing has helped the surge in prices in the city. They went up by 5.6% to £197k, while in Caerphilly, Torfaen and Monmouthshire they rose by 10.2%, 9.4% and 5.8%.
