Manchester is UK’s property powerhouse
ANALYSIS SUGGESTS AREA OUTPERFORMS LONDON FOR PRICE GROWTH
MANCHESTER has been awarded the title of the UK’s new ‘property powerhouse’ after a recent surge in house prices. The latest analysis from Open Property Group has revealed that when it comes to house price growth, Manchester has far outperformed other major UK cities over the last year including London.
According to the latest Government house price figures, property prices in the city are increasing much more than the national average. Rising house prices give a good indication of the state of the market, with growing demand often being one of the key factors that drives prices up.
The house buying company analysed the latest data by looking at house price performance over the last year across 10 major cities. The research shows that across England, the average house price has fallen by -1.5 percent on an annual basis, as market activity has been dampened by higher mortgage rates coupled with the ongoing cost of living crisis.
This downward trend has been mirrored across seven of the 10 major cities analysed by Open Property Group, with London seeing the largest decline at -3.9 percent, while Bradford and Birmingham have also seen some of the property prices fall by more than 2 percent.
But Manchester has been the best performing city by far, with the average house price climbing by 5.8 percent year on year.
The experts say this is an ‘impressive performance’ for a city that, with a population of 568,996 people, is home to a far smaller property market compared to the nation’s first and second cities of London and Birmingham. According to Rightmove, properties in Manchester had an overall average price of £296,989 over the last year.The majority of sales were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £328,004. Terraced properties sold for an average of £244,622, with flats fetching £198,905.
However, Manchester hasn’t remained immune to current market conditions as the latest transaction figures show that Manchester home sellers may struggle to secure a buyer in the current market.
Just 295 homes sold across the city in 2023, with only Newcastle and Leicester seeing a lower level of market activity. This marked a -38.2 percent drop in sales vs the previous year, the largest annual reduction in buyer activity seen across all major cities analysed by Open Property Group.
Jason Harris-Cohen, CEO of Open Property Group, said: “In contrast to Birmingham, Manchester has gone from strength to strength in recent years and while it may be looking to cement its place as the nation’s ‘second city,’ it’s fair to say that it’s outperformed even London when it comes to current house price performance.”
It’s fair to say Manchester has outperformed even London Jason Harris-Cohen Open Property Group