London house prices creep up as northern cities drive UK growth
04-23-2018
Oscar Lopez is a reporter covering property, markets, alternative investments
UK house prices have risen 5.5 per cent. (Source: Getty)
House prices in London have crept up 1.6 per cent in March, according to the latest data from property analyst group Hometrack.
The group’s UK Cities House Price Index for March 2018 showed that house prices in UK cities were up 5.5 per cent overall, with the country’s northern urban centres driving growth.
Edinburgh led the way with an 8.8 per cent increase in prices, closely followed by Nottingham and Manchester with 8 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively.
Graham Davidson, managing director of Sequre Property Investment said: “Once again, the northern cities are driving house price growth with healthy year-on-year price increases in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. Investors who chose these key northern cities for buy to let several years ago will be enjoying a significant amount of capital growth already, but there is still a fair way to go”.
Cardiff, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield also recorded sustained price gains over the last year, with all cities across Britain seeing an uplift in sales that was slightly higher than the year before.
Hometrack’s data also showed that supply of homes for sale has also increased steadily, particularly in cities where house price growth was above average.
However, in London, property sales are not keeping up with the level of supply coming to the market, with only 1.5 homes coming up for sale for every transaction made.
“Demand remains high, particularly in city centre locations and developers continue to have confidence to plough on with ambitious projects,” said Davidson. “For investors looking for high yields and significant capital growth, now is the time to invest in these key northern cities.”