How property boom spread to Britain’s far-flung regions

Homeowners with a wary eye on the property market can take comfort from the knowledge that eventually even the most unfashionable locations become popular.

A new survey of house prices by the Halifax shows that – while the areas close to London still boast the highest house prices – once-shunned parts of Northern Ireland and Wales have outperformed the rest of the country for the past ten years.

Prices in Co Armagh, once blighted by the Troubles, have risen by 331 per cent, while those in Co Tyrone jumped 315 per cent.

Such increases dwarfed those in Berkshire, up 196 per cent, and Hampshire, up 186 per cent, the areas thought to have benefited most from the unrelenting demand for homes for London’s wealthy commuters.

The news will reassure homeowners who had to buy outside their preferred areas during the property boom.

In all, five of the ten best-performing counties were in Northern Ireland, which is reaping the “peace dividend” of investment and booming immigration. House price inflation in the Province reached 50 per cent last year.

But Wales – which has suffered a turbulent few years for house prices – also outperformed much of Britain. Carmenthenshire and Anglesey (which agents tip to be star performers in the next few years) recorded rises of 287 and 269 per cent respectively.

Lucian Cook, a director of research at Savills estate agents, said: “This is the regions playing catchup.”

By contrast, prices in London, where the property boom hit first and carried on the longest, were up a modest 216 per cent. Surrey, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire, which boast the highest house prices in the country, rose 196 per cent, 198 per cent and 221 per cent respectively.

George Burnand, of the agents Strutt and Parker, said that the most highly prized locations remained in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. He said: “The most popular counties have the best schools, the best transport links to London and the best road connections.”

But to the despair of local people on lower wages, prices have also gone up in popular second-home locations, such as Cornwall, up 266 per cent, East Sussex, up 243 per cent, and the Isle of Wight, up 245 per cent.

Liam Bailey, head of research at Knight Frank, said: “These rural, lifestyle locations are where the wealth has elected to go in the past“ ten years.”

Prices have also jumped in new locations favoured by bargain-hunting commuters. Jonathan Haward, of the County Homesearch Company, said that Herefordshire had benefited from the M40, and Lincolnshire and Norfolk from much-improved rail services. North Wales has also done well with many medium-distance commuters travelling to Manchester, Liverpool and Chester.

The ascendancy of farther-flung locations has so far passed by much of Scotland. The worst-performing county in Britain was North Lanarkshire, where prices rose a mere 149 per cent. In West Dunbartonshire prices were up just 150 per cent.

That situation is expected to change, with Scotland nominated as a potential star performer this year showing possible price rises of up to 4 per cent. Halifax has tipped Aberdeenshire, up just 184 per cent in a decade, to outperform this year.

London is expected to regain lost ground in the next few years, with prices likely to soar in Kent and Essex.

Incredible. Is Judith Heyward consciously trying to persuade people to buy into the very top of a massively overinflated market?

If so, why?

Ian, London, England

Yes, the cycle has turned, and the bullish propagandists are not willing to tell you that. But iut was oh-so-predictable that it would turn. Go to YouTube, and type "UK Property Cycle": and you will find many who predicted the turn. But dont expect a useful discussion of cyclical realities from mainstraem journos, whose papers rely on advertising from Builders and others with vested interests.

DrBubb, London, London, UK

I'm quite baffled by this article. It is true that house prices rose between 1997 and 2007, but is Ms Heywood not aware that the property cycle has turned, and that prices are falling in nominal terms? This article merely quotes a series of estate agents (who clearly have vested interests in pretending that prices are rising). I see no mention of real indicators of house prices, such as the recent Land Registry, RICS or Nationwide data, all of which show that prices are falling.



Robert, London, UK