U.K. property market prices are growing most in regions furthest from London, as the capital city’s downturn seeps into nearby regions, according to a report Monday from Rightmove.
Prices of new-to-the-market properties rose by 0.4% in April compared to last month, not a staggering statistic, but enough to push up the national average to a record high of £305,732 (US$438,451), beating the previous high of £304,943 (US$437,319) set last July.The figure is a 1.6% increase from the same time last year.
More:17th-Century English Castle Hits Market for £7 Million
The North West logged the strongest annual rate of price increases, up 4.3% to an average of £193,787 (US$277,910)—a record high.
In the East Midlands, prices were up 4.2% compared to last year and in the West Midlands up 3.5%.
In the East of England and the South East—the only two regions bordering Greater London—prices rose 1.2%.
In Greater London, prices fell 1.6% from the same time last year, Rightmove said, the only region analyzed where values dropped annually.
"Home buyers are seeing average asking prices at their highest-ever level with upwards price pressure getting stronger the further away you move from London," said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst.
From Penta:Diageo Reveals (Most) of Its 2018 Special Scotch Releases
These sentiments were echoed by a separate report Monday from real estate consultants Acadata, which recorded falling prices in London and the South East but value growth in other regions.
"The slowdown in London and the South East is now well established. Yet the performance of many of our key cities and regions elsewhere shows that there’s still life in the market yet," said Oliver Blake, managing director of estate agencies Your Move and Reeds Rains, in the report.
The North West logged the highest price increases, up 3.9% annually in February, according to Acadata, followed by the East Midlands up 3.6% and the South West, up 3.5%.
The poorest price performances came courtesy of the South East, where prices saw no annual change and Greater London, where prices fell 1.5%, according to the report.