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British Real Estate Market Lost £27 Billion in Value in First Half of 2018

London actually saw a modest rise in value

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Cumbria, England

joe daniel price/Getty Images
Cumbria, England
joe daniel price/Getty Images

Since the start of this year, the value of the British property market has dropped almost £27 billion (US$35.73 billion), which equates to a fall of £5.12 (US$6.78) per property per day, according to a report Thursday from U.K. property website Zoopla.

The total value of the British property market now stands at £8.19 trillion, a decrease of 0.33%—or £26.9 billion—since Jan. 1.

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"It’s not surprising to see a small drop in values since the start of the year," said Lawrence Hall, spokesman for Zoopla, in the report. "Uncertainty around Brexit is a very real factor in the market. However, on the positive side, the drop is creating a potential opportunity for first-time buyers to get a foot on the ladder in some regions across Britain."

The north-south divide that the British real estate market has been witnessing of late—where price growth in the relatively more affordable North outpaces the higher-priced South—is still being seen.

North East England ranked as Britain’s best-performing region with average property prices rising 3.31% since the start of the year. Meanwhile, South West England is Britain’s worst-performing region with average property prices decreasing 2.51%, the report said.

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London, which has been experiencing a well-publicized real estate downturn, saw a modest rise in value of 0.75%.

On a local level, the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, North West England, ranked top for price growth as values rose 6.7% in the last six months. It was followed by Holt in Norfolk, in the East of England, which saw growth of 6.27%, and Pontypool in Torfaen in Wales, which logged price growth of 6.06%, according to Zoopla.

Reigate in Surrey, South East England, was the worst performing town in Britain, as prices declined 6.7%.