Is YOUR area bucking the house price trend? Halifax reveals the 70 towns where they are STILL going up

According to Halifax, more than 70 local areas have weathered the national decline in house prices over the past year and seen prices rise.

Some areas have even seen double-digit growth, despite the average UK house price falling 3.9 per cent year-on-year, the mortgage lender said.

Powys was the biggest gainer, with homeowners in the Wales district seeing their homes increase in value by 17.4 per cent compared to this time last year.

This is despite average prices in Wales falling by 3.6 per cent.

East Lindsey, which flanks Lincolnshire’s east coast and includes seaside resorts such as Skegness, Ingoldmells and Chapel St Leonards, has recorded annual house price rises of 13.3 per cent.

This is despite the fact that house prices in the East Midlands have fallen by an average of 4 per cent.

Moray in Scotland has seen the biggest increase in house prices in Scotland over the past year, with typical prices rising by 10.7 percent.

This is despite the fact that the average Scottish property fell by 0.8 per cent in that period.

The analysis is based on data from the Halifax House Price Index, which looked at typical house prices in more than 300 local government areas across the UK in the three months to September this year, and compared them with comparable figures from 2022.

While every region in Britain saw prices fall between 0.2 percent and 5.7 percent on average year-on-year, there are local areas in each region that have broken the downward trend.

Even in London, where annual prices have fallen by 4.8 per cent, there are parts of the capital where prices have risen significantly, according to Halifax.

Ealing, in west London, has recorded an average house price increase of 7.5 per cent, according to Halifax, while the City of Westminster and the City of London have seen prices rise by 7.4 per cent, amounting to an average of £53,108 per home in the past. 12 months.

House prices are on a downward trend, with every UK region and country recording annual falls in house prices

Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said: ‘There are several factors that can influence house prices in your area, ranging from the mix of available homes and the size of any new homes, to the quality of schools and the abundance of employment opportunities. .

‘What is clear is that the UK housing market is not a single entity that performs in a uniform way across the country; there are differences.

‘While nationally, current pressures on mortgage affordability have caused house prices to fall over the past year, house price increases still persist in many regions.

‘While a limited supply of properties for sale may be a factor, it also suggests that in some areas local market activity – and buyer demand – remains strong.’

Why are Powys, East Lindsey and Moray so popular?

The locations where house prices have performed the best over the past twelve months all have certain things in common.

They all benefit from a more remote and rural environment and include areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Powys is the least populous county in Wales. Known for its villages and market towns, it boasts beautiful scenery of valleys and mountains, including most of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Natural beauty: Powys is the least densely populated county in Wales and included most of the Brecon Beacons National Park

East Lindsey is home to the Lincolnshire Wolds, an area of ​​outstanding natural beauty.

It also boasts the award-winning Blue Flag beaches of Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea.

Moray is another largely rural area, with an array of top golf courses and many of Scotland’s whiskey distilleries.

It also includes part of the Cairngorms National Park and is equally famous for the colony of bottlenose dolphins that live in the Moray Firth.

Popular: East Lindsey boasts the award-winning Blue Flag beaches of Skegness

Nigel Bishop, from buying agency Recoco Property Search, said: ‘An increasing number of house hunters are discovering the benefits of rural living, preferring areas that are not only close to parks, but also offer a sense of community and a range of lifestyle choices.

‘It is mainly city dwellers and young families, who want to raise their children in a more picturesque environment, who are driving this demand for housing in a more rural area.

‘Boutique towns and villages with restaurants, cafes, entertainment and sporting facilities are particularly sought after, which has led to property prices in such locations rising.’

Scenic: Moray is another largely rural area and includes part of the Cairngorms National Park, and is equally famous for its colony of bottlenose dolphins that live in the Moray Firth

Can we trust the data?

Although Halifax, like Nationwide, is one of the largest mortgage lenders, the data cannot be used as a market overview of what is happening.

This is because it is based on the lender’s approved mortgage applications. This means that it excludes mortgage applications from all other lenders.

It also doesn’t include cash buyer transactions, which make up around a third of all sales this year, according to Zoopla. Typically, cash buyers are only responsible for one in five sales.

According to Halifax, some local areas in Britain have bucked the trend of falling house prices and recorded double-digit growth over the past 12 months.

The fact that mortgage purchases have fallen by more than a third annually means Halifax will likely have even less data than in previous years.

Trying to limit house prices to a specific local area makes this even more difficult.

Despite these limitations, however, Halifax’s analysis goes some way to showing how house prices can vary from area to area.

For house hunters, this shows that it can be useful to focus less on what national house prices are doing, and more on what prices are doing in their local area.