By Michiel Willems
Which areas of the UK property market look set to be the next up and coming hotspots for house price growth?
Having largely trailed the pack during the pandemic market boom, new sector data was shared with City A.M. today.
Since the start of the pandemic in January 2020, UK house prices have climbed by a huge 23.5 per cent.
However, no less than 208 local authorities have failed to meet this national benchmark and have largely underperformed during the pandemic property market boom.
Westminster and Camden
The City of Westminster is the only area to have seen a decline at -6.4 per cent, but Camden (0.3 per cent) and the City of Aberdeen (2.3 per cent) have also performed particularly poorly, according to the research from GetAgent.
The firm first looked at the areas of the UK market that have underperformed during the pandemic when compared to the national benchmark for house price growth.
It then looked at which of these underperforming areas has started to build momentum over the last year, outperforming the national annual rate of house price growth.
Mortgage approvals
While the market has been moving at a rate of knots, there are now signs that it is starting to slow, with mortgage approvals returning to pre-pandemic normality and house price growth beginning to slow.
In fact, over the last year, the average UK house price has increased by just 2.2 per cent, which is a considerably lower rate of growth when compared to the wider pandemic period.
However, of those 208 areas that have trailed below the national average during the pandemic, 78 have registered a far higher rate of growth than the national average in the last year, suggesting they could well be the nation’s next up and coming hotspots for house price growth.
Next house price hotspot
Epping Forest looks tipped to be the nation’s next house price hotspot, with growth hitting 7.6 per cent in the last year.
Inverclyde has also seen one of the strongest performances, with house prices climbing 7.4 per cent annually, along with Rutland (7.1 per cent), Woking (6.5 per cent) and Copeland (5.9 per cent).
Other areas that have largely underperformed throughout the pandemic but have seen above average levels of annual house price growth include Sevenoaks (5.8 per cent), North Hertfordshire (5.7 per cent), West Devon (5.4 per cent), Hackney (5.4 per cent) and Exeter (5.2 per cent).
“We’ve seen a phenomenal rate of house price growth since the start of the pandemic and this is yet to subside, although we are now seeing signs that the market is starting to return to normality,” said the co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short.
“Of course, not everywhere has benefited to the same extent and there are a whole host of areas that have really underperformed during the recent housing market boom.”
However, Short pointed out that “over the last year, we’re now seeing signs that some of these under performers are ascending through the ranks to post some very strong rates of annual house price growth while the rest of the market has shifted down a gear or two.”
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