With record levels of inflation and rocketing interest rates, many experts are predicting a dip in house prices at best and a market crash at worst in 2023.
But despite the three months since Liz Truss’s disastrous mini budget being dominated by reports of a slowing property market, 2022 as a whole has been a year of rapid property price growth.
According to Halifax analysis of the 12 months up to November 2022, UK properties have grown in value by an average of roughly 10% compared to 2021. This is despite 2021 having itself seen major price increases as a result of the government’s stamp duty holiday.
The strongest growth was recorded in the South East of England, where properties have gone up in price by 14.1% year-on-year. It means the average house price has grown £58,970 (the largest real-terms increase in the UK) to an average of £477,000.
At the same time, London has recorded the weakest growth of any UK nation or region, with homes adding an average of 7.2% in value (£39,877) over the last 12 months. Three boroughs (Islington, Tower Hamlets and Westminster) failed to register even 1% growth.
The UK’s capital has also recorded the country’s slowest growth rate since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March 2020, with average prices going up 12.4% (£65,738) to £596,667 (although this is still the highest average price in the UK).
According to Halifax mortgages director Kim Kinnaird, this situation “is partly due to pandemic-driven shifts in housing preferences as buyers sought bigger properties further from urban centres”.
She added that this is demonstrated by the fact that commuter towns recorded “much bigger increases”, with buyers finding a “more diverse range of properties perhaps offering better value” in these locations.
So, which towns and cities saw the biggest increases in house price growth over the last 12 months? Here is a list of the top 20 locations for value growth since 2021, according to Halifax’s assessment of mortgage offers it has granted.
1. York
House prices in York have grown by a whopping £69,648 (23.1%) on average over the past year. It means a typical home in the city will set you back £370,639. Photo: Getty Images
2. Woking, Surrey
A typical property in the Surrey town now costs £586,925 - £93,626 more than it did in 2021. Photo: Getty Images
3. Swansea
The city in South Wales has seen house prices grow by an average of 17.5% (£39,450) to £265,379. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, properties there are a staggering 47.8% pricier. Photo: Adobe
4. Chelmsford, Essex
Average house prices in Essex’s county town are now £485,770 - £69,775 (16.8%) more expensive than they were 12 months ago. Photo: Adobe