At the start of July, the average British house price stood at £270,674 – up £6,974 on January’s figure of £263,699.
Property values rose across all regions of the UK in the first half of the year, although at vastly different rates. Scotland experienced the highest rate of growth, with an average increase in property values of 6.6% (£11,382) and the average home value in Scotland now stands at £183,230. The next-best performing regions were the North East and North West registering a 3.1% and 3% increase respectively. Wales was the worst-performing region for property price increases over the first half of 2015 with an average rise of only 1% (£1,584).
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%, representing a £20,465 increase in the average home value in the city. Aberdeen grabbed third place, with a 6.4% (£15,416) rise over the half-year, coming in behind Colchester in Essex, which saw a 7.6% (£19,088) increase during the period.
Yorkshire was home to three of the ten worst-performing cities for house price growth in the first half with Rotherham topping the list, registering a dip in average home values of 2.1% (-£2,752). Wolverhampton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Middlesbrough also saw a modest drop in average houses over the period. Meanwhile, London performed slightly below the national average with average house prices in the capital growing by 2.5% (£14,385) since January.
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.”
