Liverpool is currently outperforming London in house price growth, new figures have shown.
At a city level, Liverpool continues to show the strongest levels of annual house price growth, up 6.6%
Houses are also selling, on average, three weeks faster than flats, as people look for more space due to lockdown.
The lockdown-led "search for space" means houses are taking an average of 42 days to go from the point of listing to sale agreed. This compares to 62 days for a flat.
Demand for three-bed homes - the most coveted type of property across the UK - jumped by 30% in the week after the Budget.
Such demand is also pushing up price growth for houses, with the average value of a house rising 4.9% on the year, compared to 1.9% growth for flats, reflecting the ongoing divergence in demand.
The latest findings by property search engine Zoopla also found that buyer demand spiked by +24% in the week following the Budget.
It is now running 80% higher than normal levels, yet supply is down by 13%.
The continued imbalance of supply and demand is driving upward pressure on prices - with average price growth across the UK at 4.1%.
The annual rate of change in house prices is at near decade-high levels in the North.
More than two thirds of properties currently for sale in the region fall under the £250,000 stamp duty threshold, meaning that buyers have more opportunity than anywhere else in the country to buy tax-free before the end of September.
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Gráinne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla said: "The search for space is driving continued demand for family homes, which means prices for houses are rising faster than flats, and houses are also selling more quickly.
"The prospects for the housing market over the next year have improved on the back of Budget. The continued search for space, the stamp duty extension and mortgage guarantees will support activity levels and headline house price growth up to the end of Q2 2021.
"Yet the pathway out of the lockdown, and the route to a full re-opening of the economy and unwinding of support measures, is unlikely to be simple or smooth.
“We still expect house price growth to moderate later in the year, but overall transactions are set to benefit from an additional boost following the stamp duty extension and tapering."
