ANALYSIS: House price performance by country and region
Latest data shows a house price performance gap between stronger-performing northern regions and weaker southern markets, while properties are taking longer to sell.
Regionally, we are seeing a consistent year-on-year house price increase in England currently, hovering around +2% per year, but this month we are seeing quite a slowdown for Wales and Scotland, which last month were seeing rises over 4%.
This growth has pretty much halved and now growth is lower than inflation in all countries except for Northern Ireland.
The individual indices highlight just how differently the four countries and their regions are performing.
– Northern Ireland remains the UK’s strongest performer, with annual house price growth of +7.4% making the average property price £231,131.
– Scotland also continues to record solid growth, with prices up + 3.6 % year -on -year to an average of £223,246.
– In Wales, annual growth stands at +1.6%, taking the typical property value to £231,458.
– Prices are flat or falling across much of southern England, while northern markets continue to record stronger growth.
– Northern Ireland continues to lead the UK, with annual house price growth of 5.4%, although growth is also beginning to slow.
– Every region posted a monthly gain, but the twelve-month picture splits the country in two.
– The North and Scotland carry the market.
– Scotland leads at +9.4%, with the northern English regions and Wales all ahead of the national figure.
– Greater London is weakest at -2.5%, and the southern regions sit at or below flat.
Regional house price tracking – May/June 2026
The differences become even more pronounced when the data is broken down by region within England.
From a regional perspective, with England recording a 1.8% rise YOY, the latest data from Land Registry shows that this rise is made up of a 2.5% fall in London through to a 4.7% rise in the North West.
And the North and Midlands divide continues with prices rising in these areas above where they were at the last height of the market back in August 2022, while the South and the East are still between £6,000 and £27,000 lower than they were four years ago.
How the regional markets differ
This month there seems to be a plethora of charts which track how different the property market is from a regional perspective.
Perhaps one of the most important measures – how long it’s taking to sell a home.
According to Home.co.uk: “The typical time on market for England and Wales is 53 days against 39 a year ago, a rise of +35%. Scotland is the quickest market at 20 days, Greater London the slowest at 64. The average sits far above the typical figure in every region: the signature of a tail of over-ambitiously priced stock sitting unsold.”
Time to sell needs to change
Hopefully this is something which with the Government’s new roadmap to change the way we buy and sell a home will improve.
If you haven’t read the roadmap yet, please do – we all only have three years to get ready and there is a lot to do.
Summary of indices comments
– The average figure for the whole of Great Britain doesn’t reflect what’s going on at a regional level.
– The capital has the largest choice of homes available to buy since 2010, so sellers are having to compete hard on price to try to tempt buyers.
– The national figure is an average of eleven markets moving at different speeds. The spread between the fastest and the slowest is almost twelve percentage points, and it runs cleanly along the price gradient: the cheaper the region, the faster it is still rising.
+9.4% Scotland- fastest region
-2.5% Greater London- slowest region
+0.03%- England & Wales- the average of both
– For the same house: Greater London asks 3.3 times what North East asks, and the two ends are moving apart: the dearest regions are flat or falling, the cheapest are all rising. On one national figure, both facts disappear.
– In England, stronger price growth remains concentrated in northern regions. The North East recorded annual growth of + 2.8%, taking the average property price to £182,488, while the North West saw prices rise +2.1% to £247,836.
– By contrast , the weakest regional markets remain in southern England. The South East saw prices fall -2.0% year -on -year to £381,146, while Greater London Sellers in London and the South.
– UK house price growth slowed to 0.9% in the 12 months to July, down from 1.3% in June, as reduced buying power and fewer sales put pressure on prices.
– The impact is being felt most strongly across southern England. Average prices are 0.3% lower than a year ago in the South East and 1% lower in London.
– Northern England and the Midlands continue to record stronger growth. Prices are 1.7% higher in Yorkshire and the Humber and 3.1% higher in the North West.
– For agents, these regional differences show why national averages only tell part of the story. Using local market evidence to explain pricing conditions will help agents set realistic vendor expectations, strengthen valuation conversations and win instructions based on achievable prices.
– Sellers in London and the South: Buyers have more choice of homes for sale than a year ago and are taking longer to commit. Serious buyers are out there, but they are more selective.
