House prices in England and Wales ended 2016 up 3.1% year on year but some regions saw much higher growth, led by Hull with a 16.2% rise in values, the latest index shows.
Overall prices were also up 0.4% in December month on month, taking the average price of a home to £297,678, according to the date from the Your Move index.
But there is considerable regional variation and if London and the South East are excluded then prices were up 4.4% year on year. Indeed the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London saw the biggest fall with the East of England was the top performing region.
It means that despite Brexit and concerns about economic uncertainty, prices have now almost fully recovered from the peak they reached in March 2016 ahead of the 3% surcharge on stamp duty on second homes and buy to let properties which was introduced in April 2016.
Strong performance in cheaper properties across the country saw every region in England and Wales finish the year with positive house price inflation. December saw some of the strongest monthly growth since the beginning of the year.
However, annual growth slowed slightly to 3.1% in December from 3.5% in November and the index report says that the modest gain in average prices over the year also disguises both the volatility immediately before and after the introduction of the changes in stamp duty and a massive variation in regional performance.
Annual price growth has been as high as 16.2% in Hull while falls have been as deep as 11.5% in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
Regionally prices increased the most year on year with growth of 7.9% in the East of England, followed by 5.2% in the South East, 4.5% in the West Midlands, 4.1% in the South West, 3.8% in the North West, 3.5% in the East Midlands, 2.2% in Wales, 2% in Yorkshire and Humber, 1.5% in the North East and just 0.2% in Greater London.
A slowdown in sales has been more consistent across the country and since a strong start to the year and a surge in March, sales have been lower each month than in either 2014 or 2015. Overall in 2016, they were down 3.9% on 2015 and for the last six months of the year fell 14.7% compared to 2015.
According to Oliver Blake, managing director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, prices have continued to grow, powered by good value commuter properties. ‘As the lower transaction figures since April show, the market faces challenges ahead, but it enters 2017 a lot stronger than many would have expected,’ he said.
It is London which have seen the market slow. Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, pointed out that London was the UK’s property hotspot in the first half of 2016 with the highest annual growth. However, by the end of the year it trailed every other region in England and Wales.
‘In its place, the South East and other areas with good value property continue to grow strongly, and even in London itself cheaper boroughs have seen strong increases. It will be interesting to see how far the balance in the property market continues to shift from London to its surrounding areas in the coming year,’ he said.
‘In one respect at least London remains a microcosm of the country as a whole. Relatively modest overall annual house price growth of 0.2% fails to reflect the dramatically different fortunes of its various areas. The average price in London has fallen each month since March 2016, but this largely reflects a slowdown in prime property,’ he added.
A breakdown of the figures show that other boroughs have seen prices fall with Westminster down 7.3%. Camden down 5.3% and Kensington and Chelsea down 3.7%, all among the more prier part of London.
But some of the cheaper London borough have recorded double digit growth with Barking and Dagenham up 12.1%, Bexley, up 11.8%, Waltham Forest up 10.9%, Havering, up 10.2%.
All 33 London boroughs saw sales fall in the three months from September to November 2016, compared to a year earlier. Again, though, cheaper areas have fared better, with the smallest reductions in sales in Bexley and Barking and Dagenham.
