Guaranteed annual house price growth is a thing of the past, Zoopla has claimed.

It comes as analysis by the portal found just 14% of British homes nationally – 4.2 million out of 30 million – have grown in value every year of the past five years between June 2021 and June 2026.

The portal blames declines on higher mortgage costs.

Northern markets

Britain’s northern regions have proven to be the most resilient when it comes to steady home value increases, Zoopla said.

Lower home values means more households can afford to buy and this supports continued price increases despite the changing economic conditions and higher borrowing costs.

Zoopla’s analysis found 30% of homes in northern regions have consistently increased in value over each of the past five years. This trend is also evident in other, more affordable areas such as Yorkshire and the Humber, where 22% of homes have continued to rise in value each year.

However, these areas lie in stark contrast to southern England where the impact of higher borrowing costs has had a greater impact on house prices, where fewer than one in 20 homes have registered consistent yearly increases in home values.

Regional outliers

There are localised hotspots in each region where home values have risen consistently during the past five years.

Understanding whether your local area has consistently built equity or flatlined is essential information.”

For example, Dagenham stands out in London, with 31.6% of homes increasing in value each year in the past five years.

The best performers are in Bonnybridge, Scotland and Antrim in Northern Ireland, where 60.8% and 60.5% respectively have benefited from annual increases.

Values down

At the other end of the scale, only 0.2% of British homes have been hit by a persistent decline in property values year-on-year in five years.

In Aberdeen, for example, 5.9% of homes fell in value every year for five years, reflecting the long-term structural transition of the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Richard Donnell, Executive Director at Zoopla, (pictured), says: “The past five years have seen local housing markets adjust differently to the impact of moving from record-low borrowing costs to higher rates today.

“Housing markets across Northern Ireland, the North and Scotland have seen homeowners keep building equity in their home because the local housing market was less exposed to the affordability pressures that higher mortgage rates bring.

You cannot rely on national or regional averages when assessing what your home is worth.”

“For homeowners, this analysis highlights why you cannot rely on national or regional averages when assessing what your home is worth.

“Trends vary by property type and at a hyper local level. Understanding whether your local area has consistently built equity or flatlined is essential information, if you want to understand what you can afford to buy next or you are actively planning your next move.”