It pointed out that the effect of Help to Buy and low interest rates can been seen in the figures which show increased demand driving up property values on the lower rungs of the property ladder.
In England, for example, semi detached houses have seen the biggest increase in value, up 6.42% or £13,054 during 2013 but the gain in property values has been broadening out across the country as the recovery finally starts to be felt across the regions.
London continues to surge ahead of the rest of the country with average property values rising £46,398 or 10% since this time last year, but Scotland is now hot on the capital’s heels, seeing 6.85% increase during 2013.
Overall, property prices have risen in 10 of the 11 regions across Britain over 2013 with only Yorkshire and the Humber experienced a marginal fall of 0.37% in average house prices over the past 12 months. And reinforcing the broadening effects of the recovery, northern cities now appear on the top 10 list of best performing urban areas in 2013.
The largest increase in house prices over the past year has been seen in Newcastle at 10.05%. Other cities in the north making the top 10 include Barnsley, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and York, all recording property price gains of over 6.5% during 2013.
However, it is not all good news in the North, with the worst performing city in 2013 being Rotherham in Yorkshire, which suffered a small drop in average home values of 0.1% over the past 12 months.
‘This year saw a host of new government initiatives that are now helping the property market to gain stability and set the foundations for a sustainable recovery,’ said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.
‘As a result 2013 has witnessed property price growth across most of the country and particularly at the entry level of the market. With confidence in the market increasing, 2014 could see further price growth as transaction levels pick up, construction continues and more property comes to the market,’ he added.
The full set of data shows that the average value of a property in London is £510,457, up 10%, in Scotland it is £171,690, up 6.9%, in the South West it is £243,437, up 6.1%, in the North East it is £168,795, up 5.7%, in the South East it is £310,973, up 5.5%, in the East of England it is £260,018, up 4.7%, in the West Midlands it is £182,569, up 2.6%, in the North West it is £164,149, up 2.5%, in the East Midlands it is £170,953, up 2.2%, in Wales it is £160,346, up 1.5% and in Yorkshire and Humber it is £148,507, a fall of 0.4%.
The top 10 best performing cities are topped by Newcastle with average values up 10.1% followed by London with an increase of 10%, then Cambridge up 8.8%, Barnsley up 8.7%, Cardiff up 8.4%, Glasgow up 8.2%, Dundee up 7.5%, Brighton up 7.4%, Aberdeen up 7.3% and York up 6.6%.
The worse performing city is Leicester with average prices falling by 1.92%, followed by Milton Keynes down 1.82%, Nottingham down 1.67%, Swansea down 1.62%, Hull down 1.36%, Walsall down 1.26%, Wolverhampton down 1.18%, Colchester down 0.97%, Bolton down 0.29% and Rotherham down 0.1%.
