Nottingham has been revealed as the UK city with the best prospects for house price growth in the year ahead.
Zoopla declared the East Midlands city number one as part of its December UK Cities House Price Index saying that Nottingham has the strongest market fundamentals going into 2020.
The news comes following the property website's analysis that also declared house price growth across the UK at a two year high of +3.9 percent.
Using a range of metrics - including housing affordability, the position of each city in the current housing cycle, discounts to asking price and time to sell – Zoopla has ranked cities with the best prospects for house price inflation in the year ahead.
Cities outside the south of England topped the rankings thanks, largely, to attractive affordability.
Nottingham, where house price inflation is currently running at +5.2%, is ranked as the strongest prospect for house price growth this year.
Edinburgh and Glasgow are ranked second and third respectively. House prices are currently sitting at an average of £242,200 in the Scottish capital and the rate of price growth in the 12 months to December 2019 was recorded at an impressive 6.1% here.
Cities in the south of England, such as Southampton, Oxford and London are expected to see below average house price growth this year. This is predominantly due to affordability constraints in these areas following strong house price growth between 2010 and 2016. Whilst London ranks 16 in the analysis, sales volumes are expected to rise faster than prices as buyer confidence improves, boosting sales rather than price levels.
Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla, said: “Regional cities continue to lead the way for house price inflation this year thanks to continued economic growth and more attractive affordability of housing.
"The best prospects for house price growth in 2020 are in Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.
"In contrast, we expect cities in southern England to register below average price growth as affordability levels realign to what buyers can afford. Overall, we are expecting house prices to grow on average by +3% across all UK Cities in 2020."
City growth ranking prospects
| City | Current price |
%yoy |
2020 growth ranking |
| Nottingham | £159,600 |
5.2% |
1 |
| Edinburgh | £242,200 |
6.1% |
2 |
| Glasgow | £124,600 |
3.4% |
3 |
| Manchester | £173,700 |
4.5% |
4 |
| Birmingham | £167,500 |
3.9% |
5 |
| Leicester | £181,000 |
4.7% |
6 |
| Leeds | £169,100 |
3.6% |
7 |
| Liverpool | £122,600 |
4.1% |
8 |
| Bristol | £285,300 |
3.2% |
9 |
| Sheffield | £139,800 |
3.1% |
10 |
| Cardiff | £210,800 |
2.8% |
11 |
| Cambridge | £410,300 |
1.6% |
12 |
| Portsmouth | £240,500 |
1.9% |
13 |
| Bournemouth | £291,200 |
3.% |
14 |
| Southampton | £226,500 |
0.6% |
15 |
| London | £480,800 |
1.9% |
16 |
| Newcastle | £128,500 |
1.5% |
17 |
| Belfast | £138,500 |
3.7% |
18 |
| Oxford | £413,600 |
-0.1% |
19 |
| Aberdeen | £155,700 |
-3.1% |
20 |
| UK City Index | £257,600 |
3.9% |
N/A |
Source: Zoopla House Price Index, powered by Hometrack
Traditionally, buyers return to the housing market in the first weeks of the New Year and 2020 has proved no different. Zoopla’s analysis found buyer demand in the first weeks of 2020 was +26 percent higher than the same four-week period in 2019 and 2018. With the exception of Belfast, every UK City recorded an increase in demand from buyers over this time.
Again, it was cities in the Midlands along with the north of England that recorded the strongest interest from buyers so far this year, with Sheffield, Leeds and Leicester recording above average increases in buyer interest, at up to 20 percent higher than the average.
HMRC data also showed an improvement in confidence in the housing market. It highlighted sales transactions in December 2019 were up 11 percent compared to December 2018.
