House prices 'growing faster in Newcastle than London'
11-22-2014
Buyers are flocking to northern regions as high prices put off first-time buyers and foreign investors in London
For sale signs Photo: ALAMY
The best time to launch a house in the country to the market is May or June
Dan Hyde
By Dan Hyde, Consumer Affairs Editor
House prices in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle will be growing faster than in London by the end of the year as bargain hunters turn to cheaper property in the North of England, a report has forecast.
The average property price in the capital rose 0.3 per cent between September and October to reach £402,800, according to analysts Hometrack.
By comparison, property prices in some cities outside the South East jumped by more than two per cent during the same period.
The cities where property prices were rising fastest were Milton Keynes, up 2.2 per cent, Middlesbrough, up 1.2 per cent, and Blackburn and Gloucester, both up 1 per cent.
Richard Donnell, research director at Hometrack, said the London market was "slowing quickly" as high prices put off first-time buyers and foreign investors.
Hometrack's data showed that house prices grew 0.3 per cent in Manchester and Birmingham in October and 0.4 per cent in Newcastle.
"This latest analysis shows that momentum in house price increases is starting to slow, with less pent-up demand for housing than two years ago," Mr Donnell said.
"But the market is taking longer to slow down in northern regions and so by the end of the year, we could well see monthly house price growth in London slipping below that of some of the major cities outside the South East."
He said returning confidence in the economic recovery had convinced more buyers to seek property in less fancied part of the country, where prices were lower.
The data showed the average home in Newcastle is priced at £123,800 – around a third of the price in London.