The price for an average British home has increased to £270,674 over the first six months of 2015, property website Zoopla has estimated.
This is around £7,000, or 2.7 per cent, higher than at the beginning of the year. The average home value in January was £263,699, according to Zoopla.
Property values rose across all regions of the UK in the first half of 2015, although growth rates varied significantly. Scotland saw the biggest jump in average home values, of 6.6 per cent (£11,382) with the average Scottish home now costing £183,230. Wales experienced the lowest increase in house prices, of just 1 per cent.
Scotland was also the big winner when looking at the best performers among the 50 largest cities in Britain. Edinburgh registered the largest growth in house prices since January 2015 of 8.2 per cent, representing a £20,465 increase in the average home value in the city. Yorkshire was home to three of the ten worst-performing cities in terms of home values since the beginning of this year. Rotherham topped the list, registering a dip in average home values of 2.1 per cent (-£2,752).
Lawrence Hall of Zoopla commented:
“While national property price growth saw a slow start to the first half of the year, it recovered strongly towards the end of the period. The strong regional figures across the board indicate an economy which is returning to health, with a series of Government incentives designed to encourage home-buying helping to boost demand for property in all parts of Britain.”
“The real winner here is Scotland. The surge in property values can, in part, be explained as a post-referendum bounce, as businesses and capital flood back to Scotland, after withholding investment during the volatile September referendum period. A post-General Election feel-good factor must not be discounted as more devolution promised has given property prices a bounce as Scots anticipate more jobs and investment coming their way.”
AVERAGE PROPERTY VALUES BY REGION
| Region | Avg. valueJan 2015 | Avg. valueJul 2015 | £ change | % change |
| Scotland | £171,848 | £183,230 | £11,382 | 6.6% |
| North East England | £171,044 | £176,390 | £5,346 | 3.1% |
| East of England | £289,112 | £297,878 | £8,766 | 3.0% |
| North West England | £167,118 | £171,977 | £4,859 | 2.9% |
| South East England | £341,498 | £349,927 | £8,429 | 2.5% |
| London | £584,777 | £599,162 | £14,385 | 2.5% |
| West Midlands | £189,735 | £193,717 | £3,982 | 2.1% |
| South West England | £256,396 | £261,731 | £5,335 | 2.1% |
| East Midlands | £180,645 | £184,119 | £3,474 | 1.9% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £154,226 | £156,708 | £2,482 | 1.6% |
| Wales | £164,894 | £166,478 | £1,584 | 1.0% |
Source: Zoopla, July 2015
BEST PERFORMING CITIES OF H1 2015
| Location | Avg. valueJan 2015 | Avg. valueJul 2015 | £ change | % change |
| Edinburgh, Edinburgh | £249,482 | £269,947 | £20,465 | 8.2% |
| Colchester, Essex | £250,325 | £269,413 | £19,088 | 7.6% |
| Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire | £241,227 | £256,643 | £15,416 | 6.4% |
| Hull, Yorkshire | £115,085 | £121,260 | £6,175 | 5.4% |
| Bournemouth, Dorset | £249,685 | £262,151 | £12,466 | 5.0% |
| Warrington, Cheshire | £182,481 | £190,786 | £8,305 | 4.6% |
| Reading, Berkshire | £353,115 | £368,421 | £15,306 | 4.3% |
| Southampton, Southampton | £243,916 | £254,150 | £10,234 | 4.2% |
| Huddersfield, West Yorkshire | £153,083 | £159,226 | £6,143 | 4.0% |
| Leicester, Leicestershire | £184,311 | £191,561 | £7,250 | 3.9% |
Source: Zoopla, July 2015
WORST PERFORMING CITIES OF H1 2015
| Location | Avg. valueJan 2015 | Avg. valueJul 2015 | £ change | % change |
| Rotherham, South Yorkshire | £132,432 | £129,680 | -£2,752 | -2.1% |
| Wolverhampton, West Midlands | £170,865 | £170,343 | -£522 | -0.3% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear | £191,588 | £191,315 | -£273 | -0.1% |
| Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire | £136,582 | £136,485 | -£97 | -0.1% |
| Cambridge, Cambridgeshire | £387,153 | £387,412 | £259 | 0.1% |
| Bradford, West Yorkshire | £118,656 | £118,819 | £163 | 0.1% |
| Nottingham, Nottingham | £166,718 | £167,039 | £321 | 0.2% |
| Bolton, Greater Manchester | £143,780 | £144,323 | £543 | 0.4% |
| Lincoln, Lincolnshire | £170,586 | £171,614 | £1,028 | 0.6% |
| Swansea, Swansea | £155,416 | £156,415 | £999 | 0.6% |
Source: Zoopla, July 2015
