The decade of booming house prices revealed…
House prices in the UK’s most economically active areas surged upwards by an average of £228 a week according to a recent decade of data released yesterday.
Homeowners in parts of the country with a high gross value added (GVA) score – a measure of the local economy – saw their properties rise in value by nearly £110,000 between 1999 and 2009, the Halifax revealed.
But even in these areas, price growth has slowed dramatically from 2009 onwards, as the effects of the recession are felt.
In the top 10 economically active areas from 1999 to 2009, prices have slipped by 4.3 per cent from 2009 to 2012.
And in areas knocked heavily by the recession, house prices have plummeted since the credit crunch struck in 2007.
In the 10 areas of the UK with the steepest spike in claims of unemployment benefit, the Halifax found that house prices have collapsed by a jaw-dropping 27 per cent from 2007 to the current year.
The group’s findings suggest a strong correlation between house prices and the strength of a local economy, it said.
“House price growth has generally been stronger in the areas that have seen the biggest increases in economic activity,” commented Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax.
“The best performing areas have also been the most resilient in terms of house prices during the downturn since 2007,” Ellis claimed.
While house prices in the top 10 economically performing localities shot up by an average of 145 per cent from 1999 to 2009, the bottom 10 areas in terms of economic activity saw house prices rise by 129 per cent, the figures showed.
Among the leading 10 areas by GVA, prices in the south appear to have survived the recessionary dip more so than house values elsewhere in the UK. In east London, prices have continued to grow by 14 per cent from 2009 to 2012, while they are also up in Brighton and Hove, and Hampshire.