Property prices are rising in UK’s “forgotten” areas
After being left behind in earlier house price surges led by the capital, the UK’s “forgotten” regions such as Northern Ireland and the North East have reported good growth from November last year
Annual property price increases in Northern Ireland rose 4.9 per cent from October 2013 to October 2014 while an 11.7 per cent rise was recorded over the 12 months leading to last November.
The new data has been released by the Office for National Statistics and indicates a £10,000 increase in property prices in the region.
Growth has also been seen in the North East, North West, East Midlands and the East.
London reductions mean growth elsewhere
In general, the official government data shows a yearly fall in house price growth across the UK as national averages fell from 10.4 per cent in October to 10 per cent the following month.
London led the decline with a decrease from 17.2 per cent to 15.3 per cent but was closely followed by the South East where growth fell from 11.8 per cent to 10 per cent over the same period.
Activity in the capital is shown to have directly affected growth overall in the country. The rate of annual increases grew from 6.7 per cent year to year in October to 7.1 per cent between November 2013 and November 2014. During this time London and the South East stripped out.
Founder of online estate agent eMoov Russell Quirk said there is a “feel good factor” about the economy that is beginning to revitalise some areas of the housing market and which has been previously unaffected by the recovery of the housing market.
He noted the role of buy to let investors in the development, saying they are turning their attention to areas that have “not become overheated” and can offer potentially lucrative and reliable investments.
Despite a slowing in the pace of house price growth, property value in the UK was 10 per cent higher in November than it was 12 months previously.
Prices for first time buyer properties – most commonly flats – are also rising more steeply than prices of average homes and sustaining the demand for rented accommodation.
For more predictions on the growth of property prices in 2015 and how this affects the Buy to Let market see another recent article from Steve Olejnik
14th January 2015
