UK house prices: first-time buyers look beyond London to get a foot on the ladder

House price growth across the UK continues to outpace annual growth in London.
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Lizzie Rivera17 October 2017

House price growth across the UK is continuing to outpace the rate of growth in the Greater London region, with the average cost of a UK home jumping by five per cent in the past year to £244,000.

Prices in the capital have risen at half the national rate, with London recording weaker growth than the UK average for the ninth consecutive month, according to the latest House Price Index from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Yet, even though the average price of a London home has been slashed by £5,000, property prices in the capital are still more than double the national average at £484,000.

WHICH UK AREAS ARE SEEING THE STRONGEST HOUSE PRICE GROWTH?

The largest average price rises have been seen in the North West region, where growth was 6.5 per cent on average.

Property experts maintain this is partly due to the fact that first-time buyers are choosing to move out of London and the South East in search of affordable homes.

They are instead opting for metropolitan cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, where more than 80 per cent of properties remain affordable to first-time buyers, despite rising prices, according to the latest analysis from Post Office Money.

Similar trends are being seen in the East Midlands, East of England and South West, which all saw prices increase by an average of 6.4 per cent over the course of the year.

THE LONDON OUTLOOK

Rather than a cause for concern, industry experts maintain slower price growth is partly a natural levelling of the market after years of double-digit growth that saw house prices rise significantly faster than inflation and wages.

“The uncertainty over Brexit may be felt more keenly in London than other areas due to the importance of international businesses. Figures from the City of London borough bear this out where prices are down 18.4 per cent compared to a year ago,” says senior economist at PwC, Richard Snook.

"Prices are now just 2.5 per cent higher than they were a year ago. With overall consumer price inflation at 2.7 per cent in August, this means London’s house prices declined in real terms."

Reductions on the sale price of homes at the top end of the market, especially in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, are also being attributed for the fall.