Stoke leads house prices higher while London languishes – report
Halifax data showed buyers in 2024 were seeking affordability and looking to areas which had seen steep falls in 2023.
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Your support makes all the difference.Stoke-on-Trent notched up the biggest growth in house prices this year as buyers sought out more affordable locations, but Huddersfield and many London boroughs saw values fall, a lender has said.
Halifax unveiled its list of the biggest UK regional house price risers and fallers, with Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire taking the top spot with a 17.2% jump to an average of £227,002 in the 12 months to September 2024.
This marked a turnaround after the city was the biggest faller in 2023.
It was followed closely by Slough in Berkshire with a 14.9% surge in prices to an average of £497,704, and Oldham in Greater Manchester, which enjoyed a 14.6% leap to £250,546, according to the Halifax data.
Some areas of the UK... have seen remarkable house price growth this year, as buyers perhaps seek out more affordable areas
In a similar reversal of fortunes, Huddersfield in West Yorkshire lost its place at the top of the growth league last year to slip to the bottom in 2024, with prices down by 6.6% on average to £260,498.
It was a similar picture in Wirral, Merseyside, where prices dropped 5.4% to an average of £294,250.
London dominated the fallers board, with a raft of boroughs across the capital seeing declines as affordability was put under pressure by high prices.
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: “Some areas of the UK – including Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Dunfermline – have seen remarkable house price growth this year, as buyers perhaps seek out more affordable areas where house prices, despite increases, are still coming in under the national average.
“This trend is causing house prices in some areas to flip from slowing, to growing, such as Stoke-on-Trent, which was the biggest faller last year but showed the highest rate of growth regionally this year.”
She added: “The high asking price for London properties means house prices have fallen in several boroughs – perhaps a reflection that the relatively high cost of properties is stretching affordability for buyers, or perhaps what they are willing to pay.”
The past year has seen interest rates cut twice, in August and November, to end 2024 at 4.75%, but buyers are still struggling with affordability as borrowing costs remain high and amid other cost-of-living pressures.
The research from Halifax showed that regionally, the South East of England had the slowest price growth, at 1.8%, while Northern Ireland was top of the table with 10.6%, followed by Yorkshire and The Humber at 6.4%.
London prices rose overall despite falls across a number of boroughs, up 3.6% in the year.
Here are the top 10 biggest risers, according to Halifax data:
(Town/local authority, region, average price in 2024, % price growth)
Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, £227,002, 17.2%Slough, South East, £497,704, 14.9%Oldham, North West, £250,546, 14.6%Bradford, Yorkshire and The Humber, £226,261, 13.1%Bolton, North West, £252,070, 12.9%Barnsley, Yorkshire and The Humber, £224,886, 12.6%Wolverhampton, West Midlands, £278,083, 12.4%Doncaster, Yorkshire and The Humber, £228,040, 11.6%Dunfermline, Scotland, £230,379, 10.8%Hamilton, Scotland, £229,835, 10.3%
Here are the top 10 biggest fallers, according to Halifax data:
(Town/local authority, region, average price in 2024, % price fall)
Huddersfield, Yorkshire and The Humber, £260,498, 6.6%Wirral, North West, £294,250, 5.4%Ealing, London, £559,788, 4.9%Southwark, London, £555,325, 4.8%Kingston Upon Thames, London, £582,282, 4.2%Enfield, London, £506,667, 4.0%Harrow, London, £552,203, 3.6%Westminster, London, £730,859, 3.5%Bromley, London, £541,131, 3.2%Aylesbury, South East, £423,252, 2.8%