‘The gap between house prices in London and the rest of the UK is the “widest it’s ever been”, the Nationwide Building Society has said. Its latest survey revealed that prices in London were now 5% above their previous peak in 2007.
But prices across the UK as a whole are 9% lower than they were six years ago. Overall the Nationwide said house prices across the UK have risen by 1.9% in the past 12 months, the fastest pace since September 2010.
However, the national figure disguises huge variations in different regions of the country.
On average, anyone wanting to buy a house in London would need £150,615 extra, compared with buying in the rest of the country. “For prices in the capital to be 5% above their 2007 peak is nothing short of incredible,” said Jonathan Hopper of the property firm Garrington.
“The London property market is an extraordinary microcosm. It has effectively broken free of the rest of the UK and is operating in its own stratosphere,” he said.
But the picture elsewhere is very different. The region where prices are falling fastest is now Northern Ireland. House prices there have fallen by 2.1% in the past year. Since prices peaked in 2007, they have dropped by 52%. In Scotland, prices have fallen by 1.2% in the past year.
Even within England, there is huge variation between different cities. In Newcastle-on-Tyne, prices have risen by 11% in the past 12 months, the highest rise of any UK city. But in Liverpool, prices fell by 8%, suggesting a possible east-west split, as well as a north-south divide.
However, prices in the south of England and East Anglia, are relatively close to their 2007 peak, the Nationwide said.’
Source: The Daily Telegraph
