Property prices in Bristol have risen the most of all major British cities in the last five years, new data from Hometrack shows.
Values in the west country city rose an average of 8.9 per cent each year from April 2013 to reach £278,700 the index reveals, pipping London which has seen values soar 8.6 per cent per year in the same timeframe.
The average property price in the capital is a far higher £487,600, but the report suggests that sellers in the South are having to accept greater discounts on asking prices to shift their home.
Soaring: Property prices in Bristol have risen the most in the last five years, Hometrack data suggests – pictured, the Clifton Suspension Bridge
Homes in Cambridge, London and Oxford, are seeing reductions of up to 4.7 per cent on average – a far higher figure than the previous five-year trend – with only properties in Liverpool and Newcastle seeing larger discounts.
Furthermore, the average price increase in the 20 cities the index measures is 4.9 per cent up on last year, down from typical annual growth of 6.9 per cent in the five years previous.
In Cambridge, this is just 0.1 per cent and London 0.8 per cent, the two worst performing areas other than Aberdeen, which has recorded falls of 7.2 per cent.
Prices in the Scottish city have dived by almost a fifth since 2014 when the price of oil went into reverse and hit the demand for housing.
| City | Average price | %yoy Apr-18 | 5 year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | £278,700 | 4.9% | 8.9% |
| London | £487,600 | 0.8% | 8.6% |
| Oxford | £419,100 | 1.3% | 7.4% |
| Cambridge | £435,500 | 0.1% | 7.2% |
| Portsmouth | £235,100 | 4.5% | 6.7% |
| Southampton | £223,000 | 4.1% | 6.4% |
| Bournemouth | £288,100 | 5.6% | 6.3% |
| Manchester | £161,700 | 7.7% | 6.3% |
| Birmingham | £157,600 | 6.7% | 6.1% |
| Leicester | £171,000 | 7.4% | 6.1% |
| Nottingham | £147,500 | 6.4% | 5.6% |
| Cardiff | £201,300 | 6.8% | 5.4% |
| Belfast | £126,800 | 3.1% | 4.9% |
| Edinburgh | £222,900 | 7.2% | 4.9% |
| Leeds | £161,200 | 4.2% | 4.8% |
| Sheffield | £134,900 | 5.6% | 4.3% |
| Liverpool | £117,200 | 6.8% | 3.6% |
| Glasgow | £122,900 | 3.8% | 2.9% |
| Newcastle | £126,100 | 2.4% | 2.5% |
| Aberdeen | £173,200 | -7.2% | -1% |
| 20 city index | £252,600 | 4.9% | 6.9% |
| UK | £214,700 | 4.5% | 5.7% |
Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack says: ‘The strength of house price growth and level of discounting from asking prices reveals how the current housing cycle continues to unfold.
‘The overall pace of overall city level growth has lost momentum as a result of virtually static prices in London and slower growth across southern England.’
The strongest price gains in the last year in terms of cities have come from Leicester and Manchester, with rises of 7.4 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively.
These cities are all recording house price growth that is higher than the average over the last five years supported by attractive affordability levels.
Sellers in these, and other cities outside southern England, are achieving a smaller discount to asking prices compared to two years ago, pointing to further above average house price growth ahead, Hometrack says.
Birmingham and Manchester have the smallest average discounts to asking price in England at 2.6 per cent.
These cities have not been hit by external economic factors that have weakened demand in the South, such as affordability pressures, tax changes and Brexit uncertainty, Hometrack adds.
As a result, sellers in large cities outside of the South are getting smaller discounts to the asking price to achieve a sale.
Bristol: The South West city has seen bigger percentage property price increases in the last five years, pipping London
Richard Donnell adds: ‘Weaker consumer confidence and modest increase in mortgage rates are also impacting demand and mortgage approvals for home purchase have drifted lower in the last quarter.
‘The index reveals, how macro and local factors such as the strength of the local economy and the relative affordability of housing are influencing the pace and direction of house price growth.’
Separate data from the National Association of Estate Agents Propertymark shows that demand from prospective buyers grew by nine per cent last month.
On average, estate agents had 337 house-hunters registered per branch, compared to 308 in March However, this figure is 13 per cent lower than April 2017.
In contrast, the supply of homes available to buy fell from 40 in March to 33 on average per branch in April.
Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: ‘Last month our findings indicated that we were entering what looked like a buyer’s market, but this month, the dial has swung back in the favour of sellers.
‘With demand on the up, and the supply of available homes falling once again, buyers will find themselves facing stiff competition from other house-hunters.’