"While many tend to focus on national market performance, this rarely provides an accurate picture because London, for example, can be wildly different to Manchester, or Edinburgh"
- Lee O’Brien - iad UK
New research from iad UK analysed annual and three-year house price change in England, Scotland, and Wales, to understand which of the British nations has the strongest and most resilient housing market.
Annual performance
The average house price in Great Britain currently stands at £294,478. This represents a small annual decline of -0.2%.
This drop is being largely driven by a significant -2.7% decrease in the Welsh market where the average price is now £214,912. This is partnered by a -0.5% drop in England where the average is £309,602.
In Scotland, however, house prices are bucking the trend and have increased by 2.5% on the year and currently sit at an average of £195,387.
Pandemic change
Scotland’s market performance looks just as impressive when analysed over a longer period.
Since the start of the pandemic (December 2019), Britain’s overall average house price has increased by 25.6%. Scotland has provided the largest contribution with growth of 30%.
Wales has recorded similarly impressive growth since the pandemic, with prices increasing by 29.1%
In England, price growth hasn’t been quite as impressive, stalling out just below the British average at 24.8%.
Lee O’Brien, Managing Director of iad UK, says: “Great Britain has a small geographical footprint within which sits a large and compartmentalised housing market. While many tend to focus on national market performance, this rarely provides an accurate picture because London, for example, can be wildly different to that of Manchester, or Edinburgh.
"It’s the same with each of our great nations. If you rely on the media headlines, you’d reasonably think that house prices are cooling. But if we look closely, we see that Scottish prices have increased in the past year of significant economic turmoil.
"For buyers and sellers alike, it’s vital to understand your local housing market, not just the nationwide picture. That’s why a great estate agent with tons of local knowledge, brilliant market data and experience is always an important ally.”
