The latest property research from Zoopla has revealed some towns are doing better than others when it comes to property prices. Zoopla looked at the property values across the board over the first three months of 2018, and they have made for interesting reading.
For while some towns have seen notable rises during that period, others have seen significant falls. These are the individual stories that are not seen when looking only at the average house prices for the whole UK.
The fastest risers so far this year
Four out of the five biggest risers in 2018 so far were in the south of England – with two in the South East. Sidcup, a commuter town in Kent, has seen the largest rise. The average price in January was £406,729 but this had risen to £418,490 by March. This works out to an increase of 2.89%.
In second place was Heathfield in East Sussex, which experienced an increase of 2.87%. January’s average of £436,202 increased to £448,727 in March. Wallingford in Oxfordshire came in third place with an increase of 2.84%, followed by Glastonbury in Somerset at a 2.81% increase. Finally, we head north to Darwen in Lancashire, which took fifth place with an increase of 2.81% in prices between January and March.
property on cash
The biggest drops are seen in these towns
At the other end of the scale, property prices have fallen in some areas between January and March this year. Lincolnshire was home to the town with the biggest drop of 1.71% in average prices during the first three months of 2018, where Immingham struggled the most.
Two towns in the south of England made the bottom five, while the remaining three were further north. Esher in Surrey came in second place with a drop of 1.12%, followed by Ripon in North Yorkshire, which recorded a drop of 1.08% in prices. Caernarfon in Gwynedd was next with a drop of 1.04%, and finally Edgware in London made the bottom five locations with a drop of 1.01%.
“Averages don’t account for specifics”
“We can see from these figures that some properties have changed far more in price than others so far this year,” said Darren Pescod, CEO of The Mortgage Broker Limited. “Similarly, would-be homebuyers will likely be taking advantage of price falls in some areas, while those living elsewhere may see the price of properties move ever further away from their reach.
“We are used to seeing average property prices in the news, but averages don’t account for specifics. The situation from one area to another, and even from one town to another, can change hugely, as we can see here.”
On average, the amount you’d expect to pay for a property in Britain has gone up by 1.03% since the start of the year. This data drills into the average to highlight the very different picture we can see from one area to another. We shall be watching the next three-month period with interest.
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