5
Jan
Luton saw biggest house price increase in 2016
Luton experienced a bigger increase in house prices than any other
major town or city in Britain last year, new figures have
revealed.
According to Halifax, the average house price in the Bedfordshire
town rose from £214,934 to £256,636 in 2016.
This is an increase of 19.4 per cent compared with the previous
year, and well up on the average of 7.5 per cent that was recorded
across the country as a whole.
Interestingly, the ten biggest price rises in percentage terms last
year were also in London and the south-east.
For instance, the borough of Barking and Dagenham came second, with
typical property values going up by 18.6 per cent, followed by
Dunstable, which saw an increase of 17.9 per cent.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, believes the surge in
prices in this part of the country is because these places are
either in or offer easy access to London.
"Demand in these areas has risen as substantial property price
rises in central London over the last few years have caused
increasing numbers of people to seek property in more affordable
areas," he observed.
Mr Ellis noted that the situation is very different in other areas,
with Aberdeen seeing the biggest decrease in 2016, with a fall of
6.9 per cent.
"On the north-east coast of Scotland, it is highly dependent on the
North Sea oil and gas sector," he commented.
"The substantial fall in oil prices in the past couple of years has
hit the industry hard with adverse impact on demand for homes in
the area. Price declines elsewhere have been
modest.”