Salford is the UK's best area to invest in property
Salford is the area of the UK where property investment has been the most lucrative, where the average house price has soared by 92.92% from £114,611 in 2015 to £221,104 in 2025. Five of the top 10 areas are all found in Greater Manchester, which is the best-performing county in the study, with an overall 78.34% increase in house prices.
Point processing experts Point Processing determined the areas in the UK where it has been best to invest in property by ranking UK areas by the percentage increase in the average price for a house from 2015 to 2025. The house price data was obtained from the Office for National Statistics UK House Price Index.
Salford in Greater Manchester has been the most lucrative area to invest in property over the past 10 years. The average price for a house in Salford has skyrocketed by 92.92% since 2015, from £114,611 in 2015 to £221,104 by 2025. This £106,493 increase is 46.54 percentage points above the national average increase of 46.38%, with the average UK house price increasing from £182,291 in 2015 to £266,841 in 2025.
Oldham, also in Greater Manchester, is the second-most lucrative area for property investment since 2015. The average house price has increased by 86.92% from £108,237 in 2015 to £202,317 in 2025. This £94,080 increase is 40.54 percentage points greater than the national average.
Greater Manchester has five areas in the top 10 most lucrative for property investment and is the most lucrative overall county for property investment, with all nine of its areas in the UK’s top 50. The average house price in the county has increased by £100,878 from £128,763 in 2015 to £229,641 in 2025, an increase of 78.34% and 31.96 percentage points above the UK average.
Blaenau Gwent in Wales, just north of Cardiff, is the third-most lucrative area for property investors in the past 10 years, where house prices have seen an 85.61% increase from £73,362 to £136,165 between 2015 and 2025. This £62,803 increase is 39.22 percentage points above the UK average, and 27 percentage points above the Welsh average increase of 58.61%.
Causeway Coast and Glens in Northern Ireland is the fourth-most lucrative area to invest in property between 2015 and 2025. In 2015, the average house cost £107,644, which increased by £91,879 or85.35% to £199,523 in 2025. This is 38.97 percentage points more than the UK average, and 16.14 percentage points more than the average for Northern Ireland of 69.22%.
The Orkney Islands in Scotland are the fifth-most lucrative area for property investment since 2015. In 2015, the average house price was £120,136, which increased by £102,138 or 85.02% to £222,273 in 2025, 42.94 percentage points above the average increase of 42.08% for Scotland, and 38.64 percentage points above the UK average increase.
Manchester is the UK’s sixth-most lucrative area for property investments, with house prices increasing by 83.28% between 2015 and 2025, 36.9 percentage points better than the UK average increase of 46.38%. In 2015, the average house in Manchester cost £133,624, increasing by £111,283 to £244,908 in 2025.
Rochdale, another Greater Manchester local authority, is seventh for the UK’s most lucrative areas for property investment. The average house price was £107,998, which increasedby 83.09% to £197,734 in 2025. This £89,736 increaseis 36.71 percentage points more than the national average.
Derry City and Strabane in Northern Ireland recorded an 82.68% increase in house prices between 2015 and 2025, the eighth-largest increase in the UK. The 2015 price for the average house in the area was £92,174. By 2025,this had increased by £76,209 to £168,383. This increase is 36.3 percentage points above the UK average increase of 46.38%, and 13.46 percentage points above the 69.22% average increase for Northern Ireland.
Sandwell in the West Midlands and just west of Birmingham, is the ninth-most lucrative area in the UK for property investment. House prices in 2015 averaged £112,282, increasing by £92,323 to £204,605 by 2025. This 82.22% increase is 35.84 percentage points more than the UK overall increase.
Tameside in Greater Manchester ranks tenth for the most lucrative areas of the UK to have invested in property. The average price of a house in 2015 came to £112,317, which increased by 81.22% to £203,539 in 2025. This £91,223 increase is 34.84 percentage points greater than the national average increase.
“Houses are not just homes to many people: they act as an important store of wealth and can play a huge role in retirement plans”, commented Joshua Pallett from Point Processing . “Many homeowners also have the expectation that house prices will always increase, which further adds to the appeal of houses being used as investments.”
He continued: “With these factors in mind, we wanted to see which areas have been the most lucrative for property investors, finding that Salford ranks top, and Aberdeen bottom.”
“Salford and the wider Greater Manchester area have performed so strongly because of the vast amounts of regeneration projects in the area. Salford Quays and MediaCityUK have spearheaded these efforts, which have attracted large amounts of investment and jobs to the area.”