House prices rising fastest in and around city centres

New data reveals that house prices are rising fastest once again in and around city centres, and falling in some suburbs, as the Covid "race for space" goes into reverse. During the pandemic, lockdown restrictions and the shift to home working drove stronger house price growth in suburban and rural areas. However, analysis by Halifax found that since the beginning of this year, property prices in cities have climbed by 9.2%, but prices in surrounding areas have risen by 7.9%. Andrew Asaam, Halifax's mortgages director, said: "As daily life started to get back to normal for many, the opportunity to live in cities became more attractive again, driving up demand." Halifax found that house prices in Manchester have risen by 11.5% so far this year, but just north of the city, prices in Bury are only 1.5% higher. In Scotland, prices in Edinburgh have increased, on average, by about 12.9% in 2022, compared with a rise of 6.1% in the outskirts. There were some exceptions however. In the North East, house price growth in Newcastle and Sunderland underperformed compared with surrounding areas. 

The Times   The Daily Telegraph