House prices on rise... except in one city

HOUSE prices in nearly all of Britain’s 20 major cities have risen over the past five years – except in Aberdeen, figures show.

Prices in the Granite City fell by 1 per cent between April 2013 and last month – and are down 7.2 per cent since April of last year.

This compares with rises in Edinburgh and Glasgow of 7.2 per cent and 3. per cent respectively over the past year.

The average house price in Aberdeen is now £173,200 – down almost a fifth since the oil price crashed in 2014, according to figures from Hometrack.

In Edinburgh the average house price is now £222,900, and in Glasgow £122,900.

Across all 20 cities, Bristol had the greatest house price growth, with a rise of .9 per cent since 2013 – more than the .6 per cent of London. The average price in the West Country city is now £27 ,000 but £4 7,600 in the British capital.

The average price increase across all 20 cities since April last year is 4.9 per cent – below the typical annual growth of 6.9 per cent over the previous five years.

Hometrack spokesman Richard Donnell said: ‘The overall pace of city level growth has lost momentum as a result of virtually static prices in London.’

Meanwhile, the National Association of Estate Agents Propertymark said demand from prospective buyers was up by 9 per cent last month.

Estate agents had an average of 337 house-hunters per branch against 30 in March, although this is still down 13 per cent from April last year.

NAEA Propertymark’s Mark Hayward said: ‘With demand on the up and supply of available homes falling, buyers will find themselves facing stiff competition.’