"Our country has a remarkable depth of history, and we’re incredibly lucky to boast such storied towns and cities. But as our population has expanded, we’ve also had to add some brand new habitations to the mix"
Research from estate and lettings agent, Barrows and Forrester, analysed property market data from the last year across 15 historic pockets of England’s property market and compared it to data from 15 modern towns that have been created since 1946.
The research shows that the average property price across these historic markets has climbed by 8.2% in the last year, with the average house now costing £274,466.
All 15 of these historic towns have experienced price growth in the past year, and in seven of them, growth has reached double-digit percentage figures.
The historic town with the best growth is Exeter where prices have increased by 11.9% to hit an average of £336,213.
York has enjoyed huge growth of 11.5%, while markets in Shrewsbury (11.2%), Lancaster (11%), Canterbury (10.7%), Durham (10.3%), and Chester (10.1%) have all performed exceedingly well.
In contrast, across the 15 towns that have been created since 1946, annual price growth sits at 7.6% with just one location seeing double-digit growth.
Telford property values have soared by 12.7% in the last 12 months to reach a current average house price of £231,785.
While failing to break the 10% mark, Peterborough (9.7%), Runcorn (9.6%), Corby (9.4%), and Hemel Hempstead (9%) have all seen good annual growth.
Despite lower price growth, England’s newest towns remain more expensive than their historic equivalents. The average price across the 15 new towns is £310,726 compared to £274,466 for homes in areas that are steeped in history.
Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:
“Our country has a remarkable depth of history, and we’re incredibly lucky to boast such storied towns and cities. But as our population has expanded, we’ve also had to add some brand new habitations to the mix.
"Prices in our historic towns have outperformed new towns because of two major factors - our historic towns are hugely desirable, often beautiful locations where the cup of culture overfloweth, and stock is limited due to there being finite space for new developments.
"However, our new towns continue to command higher house prices because there is a greater abundance of new-build stock which tends to be more expensive than older property.
"Meanwhile, prices in these new towns aren’t growing as quickly because there is more space for the stock levels to expand, thus keeping demand at a manageable level.”
