Houses and neighbourhoods, since time immortal on the island, have fluctuated in value depending on a host of external factors. While properties in London and the South East continue to host some of Britain’s most expensive houses, other parts of the country have not been as consistent in holding their property value, and while some investment in regions sinks, other places see a noticeable spike. Depending on where one lives, this fluctuation in spending might well be welcome news to some sitting tenants; let’s take a look at current trends in property valuation, and perhaps glimpse the future of Britain’s hotspots.
East of England
The surprise winner here is East of England, where a whopping £1.3 billion of transactions occurred in the calendar year of 2014. This is thanks to the spill-over from the capital, as well as having better value than other counties like South East and Surrey. The region accounted for some 954 sales of over £1 million sales of luxury properties, which made it the best performer in all of England, Wales, and Scotland.
Specifically within this region, St Albans stands out as a fantastic performer, worth about £217 million of all the sales that took place over £1 million in the year 2014.
South West and Bristol
Bristol deserves special mention as a place that has seen significant growth in property sales in the South West region of Britain. In the area including Avonmouth and Bristol, the number of homes sold in 2014 almost doubled from the sale figures in the year 2013. Avonmouth saw the largest increase in transactions with a jump of 94.5% in the last full calendar year. Furthermore, the increase in cost of houses was fully double the national average, sitting at a stalwart 21.1 percentage rise.
The tech industry – a thriving sector here – is a culprit for this kind of interest in living and working in Bristol, as evidenced by newer developments as well as the high number of purchases with the government’s ‘Help to Buy’ program. Overall, this region saw a total of £740 million worth of property being sold in sales of over £1 million.
The North West
The third amongst major regions where luxury properties were sold, 166 home estates changed hands in the year 2014 in the North West, totalling a sizeable £248 million. Of those sell their house fast through UK based companies like Open Property Group, approximately £107 million of that jackpot were of deals of over £1 million in the Cheshire East area, which accounts for about half of the whole North West region. This demonstrates the gap between denser areas of property wealth and the relative value of property in the rest of the region.
