Southern cities are seeing property prices stall, according to the latest Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index.
The latest Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index has found that sellers in southern England are being forced to accept greater discounts on their asking prices in order to achieve a sale in comparison to other cities in the midlands, northern regions and Scotland.
The largest discounts in southern cities were found in London, Oxford and Cambridge, reaching up to 4.7 per cent on average. The latest data revealed that the gap is also starting to increase in Bristol, Portsmouth and Southampton due to growing affordability pressures increase.
In contrast to the southern trend, Aberdeen has the largest discounts from asking prices at 9.6 per cent. In the last year prices have fallen by 7.2 per cent in the city and by almost 20 per cent since 2014;
Overall city house price inflation has stalled at 4.9 per cent in April, with average values in London up by just 0.8 per cent over the last year. This effect has been worsened by sub-par average growth in in Southern cities such as Southampton, Portsmouth and Bristol.
Manchester saw the strongest house price growth at 7.7 per cent, whilst Leicester and Edinburgh saw growth of 7.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively. These cities are all noting higher than average house price growth.
Insight Director at Hometrack, Richard Donnell, says: ‘The strength of house price growth and level of discounting from asking prices reveals how the current housing cycle continues to unfold. The overall pace of overall city level growth has lost momentum as a result of virtually static prices in London and slower growth across southern England. Weaker consumer confidence and modest increase in mortgage rates are also impacting demand and mortgage approvals for home purchase have drifted lower in the last quarter.’
He continued: ‘The cities index reveals, how macro and local factors such as the strength of the local economy and the relative affordability of housing are influencing the pace and direction of house price growth.’
Source: Residential Landlord