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| THURSDAY 14TH APRIL 2005 |
 TOP
UK PROPERTY HOT SPOTS
Bellshill in Strathclyde, Scotland continues to be the UK's
top property hotspot with a 46% rise in prices over the past
year, taking the average from £72,508 in 2004 Quarter
1 to £105,698 in 2005.
However, as with all of the hotspots in Halifax's top ten,
the average property price in Belshill, which now stands
at £105,698, is well below the UK national average
of £162,840.
All 10 towns recording the largest price increases over
the last 12 months are outside southern England, with four
in Scotland, and three in Wales.
At a county level, the Highlands in Scotland (35%) have
seen the biggest price rises over the last year followed
by County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland (33%) and Powys in
Wales (31%). Scotland and Wales dominate the list of 20 counties
recording the biggest price gains in the last 12 months with
seven in Scotland and five in Wales. The remaining counties
in the top 20 are all in Northern Ireland and northern England.
The smallest house price rises have been in County Down
(2%), and East Sussex, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Hertfordshire
(all 5%). Eight of the 10 counties recording the smallest
increases were in southern England.
There has been a clear north/south divide in house price
performance over the past year. Northern Ireland (25%) and
Scotland (23%) have experienced the strongest price rises,
followed by the three northern English regions – Yorkshire
and the Humber (16%), the North West (15%) and the North
(14%). Greater London (1%), the South East (5%) and the South
West (6%) have recorded the smallest gains.
As a result, the gap between prices in London and the rest
of the country has continued to narrow with the differential
between the average house price in the capital and the UK
falling to its lowest since 1998 Quarter 1 in percentage
terms. The average price in the capital stood at 1.49 times
the national average in 2005 Quarter 1 compared with a peak
of 1.87 times in 2001 Quarter 3. The much stronger house
price rises in northern Britain during the last three years
has seen a significant narrowing in the north/south house
price divide with the average price in London now less than
twice that in the North compared with almost three times
three years' ago. Despite this narrowing, the north/south
divide remains wider than it was ten years' ago when the
average price in London was only 1.25 times the national
average.
Commenting upon the housing market in the UK, Martin Ellis,
Chief Economist, said: "It has been areas in Scotland,
Wales, Northern Ireland and northern England that have recorded
the most buoyant housing market conditions over the past
year. As a result, the north/south divide has narrowed to
its smallest for seven years."
"Despite some spectacular increases in house prices
in some parts of the UK over the past 12 months, the market
has slowed in most areas during the past six months or so.
We expect this trend to continue over the coming months,
with prices slowing most markedly outside southern England
as the recent rapid rises in house prices and the increase
in interest rates since late 2003 constrain demand."
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