The Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham recorded the highest percentage rise in house price of any major UK town or city last year, according to new research.
Cheltenham saw a 13 per cent jump in prices in 2017, almost five times the national increase of 2.7 per cent, Halifax said Tuesday. The average house in the town, famous for its annual horse-racing festival, rose to £313,150.
Bournemouth and Brighton saw the next highest gains, with prices rising more than 11 per cent in each.
House price growth has slowed this year, with London a particular weak spot, thanks to a sluggish economy and a squeeze on consumers in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union.
The situation isn’t expected to improve soon, with forecasts released last month by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Nationwide Building Society predicting a broadly flat 2018.
Unlike 2016, “the top performers are not exclusive to London and the South East,” said Halifax managing director Russell Galley.
The top performer in the UK capital was the eastern borough of Newham, which had a 10 per cent increase. Two of the three areas with the biggest declines were in Scotland - Perth and Paisley. In all, 13 towns ended the year with lower prices.
Bloomberg
- More about:
- House prices
- Halifax
- Cheltenham
Reuse content