House prices in nearly half of London’s postcodes have fallen in the last year, new figures have revealed.
Prices in the capital overall have risen by just 1%, while in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham and Manchester property values have increased by 7% year on year, according to the Hometrack Cities House Price Index.
Inflation across all of the UK’s cities was at 5.2% which is still higher than the year-on-year growth of 4% registered in 2017.
However the slowdown in London, where 42% of postcodes have seen prices fall, indicates a separation between cities in the south of England and regional cities.
Simon Heawood, CEO of online property investment platform Bricklane.com, said: “Whilst London has been the investor’s choice for many years, it’s clear that markets outside the capital are performing strongly.
“Most of the UK’s ‘gateway’ cities such as Birmingham and Manchester boast attractive demographic trends and are benefitting from significant investment and infrastructure projects – increasing their attractiveness to buyers.”
According to the Hometrack figures ten cities were growing at a slower rate than a year ago. The most significant slowdown was happening in Bristol, Southampton and London.
The report suggests that problems with affordability in these cities would have impacted market activity.
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships at Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “Despite the naysayers who talk of a slowdown in the housing market, we need to remember that property prices are still on the rise and importantly at a more sustainable rate that benefits the new generation of first-time buyers looking to get onto the property ladder.
“We’re no longer seeing the stratospheric rises in property prices of recent years that have locked many new buyers out of the housing market, and that should be welcomed.”
