At the city level property market performance, we have two main sources of data: Hometrack, which is around six weeks into the home buying and selling process, and the Land Registry data, which is anything from a few months to six months or more out of date.

Of our 30 cities, only four are still recording falls, according to the Land Registry, whereas a slightly more updated picture from Zoopla shows there are no towns experiencing a decline in property prices.

Long term city property price performance vs inflation 

Out of the 30 cities we track via the Land Registry, since 2005, property prices have only risen above the average annual 3.8% inflation rate in five cities/towns. These include:

– Manchester

– Cambridge

– Bristol

– London

– Brighton and Hove

Oxford is the only town where property prices have risen at the same rate as the 3.8% average annual inflation, whilst the remaining towns and cities we track show that property prices, in many areas, have risen at less than inflation. These include:

– Newcastle upon Tyne

– Aberdeen

– Belfast

– Southampton

– Lincoln

Some really interesting property market data from the indices this month. Looking at the cities that are performing really well and those that are struggling, there is still little indication that the underlying cause of performance is a ‘north and south’ divide.

Both the Land Registry and Hometrack are showing low and high performers in the north and south. It’s much more to do with affordability coupled with economic growth that dictates where there is ‘room for growth’ – or not.

Richard Donnell from Zoopla produced a great map this month showing where prices in the UK property market could continue to grow – which also suggest the opposite – where affordability is now hitting it’s limits.

Appendix: City/town property indices price tracking

For city/town tracking, we use Land Registry (government data) and Zoopla/Hometrack. The Land Registry data is useful because we can analyse how property prices have changed over time and this helps us to put today’s price information into context.

The Zoopla/Hometrack data is useful as they take into account the change in mix of property transactions during the pandemic to houses away from flats. This has meant the likes of the Land Registry and other indices have over exaggerated price changes year on year.