Yahoo Finance UK areas with the biggest house price rises in 2020
Islington in London saw the biggest average house price increase in the UK in 2020, while Leeds and Wolverhampton made the biggest jumps outside the capital, new data by lender Halifax revealed.
In Islington, the average property price jumped 13.4%, £85,918, ($116,032) this year, more than double the average percentage growth in the Greater London area (6%) with an average sale price of £727,922.
This was followed by Croydon which has enjoyed a 10.9% increase (£39,117).
Overall the London average house price was up 6%, taking nine of the top 20 places.
Outside the capital, Leeds has seen the second greatest increase of 11.3% (£25,024) in average house price this year, edging past the regional average of 9% across Yorkshire and Humberside.
In Wolverhampton, homes now cost 9.5% more (£18,975) at an average of £217,837. This has crept up from 9% the previous year.
In London, even some of the closest neighbours have some of the biggest contrasts. Islington, Croydon, Hounslow, Romford, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Kingston-upon-Thames, Lambeth, Sutton, and Hillingdon have all experienced some of the biggest house prices increases in the year.
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Over the same period, Hackney, Merton, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets, Haringey, and Wandsworth saw either a drop or the smallest growth in the year when looking across the UK.
“Much like many other things about 2020, it would have been hard to predict which areas would see the greatest movement in average house prices this year. For example, depending on the borough, you could be looking at the biggest price rise or the biggest falls in the capital,” said Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax.
Meanwhile, the cost of buying a home in the popular Hackney area has become £9,843 (1.5%) cheaper, compared to the previous year, making it the second greatest fall in the UK, after Paisley in Scotland.
Paisley has seen house prices cool by 1.7% (£2,448). Merton and Greenwich in Greater London sit in fifth and sixth place on the list, with dips of 0.6% (£3,385) and 0.2% (£899) respectively.
Inverness in the Scottish Highlands – where homes now cost £195,534 – is Scotland’s biggest house price winner this year, with an average increase this year rocketing to 8.1% (£14,687) from no increase at all between 2018 and 2019.
Meanwhile Scotland’s capital, known as one of the priciest places to buy in Scotland, has seen house prices grow by 6% over the year, corresponding to an extra £15,581, with the average property in Edinburgh now £274,246.
READ MORE: UK homes cost nine times average pay as house prices hit record high
On the other hand, Aberdeen in the north and Falkirk in central Scotland have seen house price falls this year, of 1.4% (£2,761) and 0.8% (£1,484), coming in at third and fourth in the UK overall. Buyers can expect to pay around £200,810 for a home in Aberdeen or £175,789 in Falkirk.
Earlier, Halifax data showed that UK property prices saw their strongest five-month run of growth since 2004, despite tighter lockdown restrictions in November.
Figures showed the average UK property sold in November was bought for £253,243. It marks a 1.2% jump of almost £3,000 on October prices, and a 7.6% increase year-on-year—the biggest annual jump since June 2016.
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