The north London borough of Islington recorded the fastest rise in house prices in the UK this year, according to data from Halifax bank.
Properties in the area home to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn cost an average of £727,922 in 2020, up 13.4 per cent on 2019 with more than double the average growth in the capital.
Leeds saw the second highest increase (11.3 per cent), followed by Croydon in south London (10.9) and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands (9.5).
No area saw house prices fall by more than two per cent despite fears the coronavirus pandemic could significantly depress the market.
Paisley in Scotland saw the biggest fall with a 1.7 per cent decrease to £138,036, followed by Hackney east London with a 1.5 per cent decrease to £636,002. The only other areas to see decreases were Aberdeen and Falkirk in Scotland and Merton and Greenwich in south London.
“Much like many other things about 2020, it would have been hard to predict which areas would see the greatest movement in average house prices this year," said Russell Galley, Halifax Managing Director.
"For example, depending on the borough, you could be looking at the biggest price rise or the biggest falls in the capital.
"House prices have leapt by more than 11 per cent in Yorkshire’s great cosmopolitan city of Leeds and almost 10 per cent in Wolverhampton at the heart of the Black Country.
Table: Areas with highest growth in house prices in 2020
| Area | Average house price in 2020 | % change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Islington | £727,922 | 13.4 |
| Leeds | £247,116 | 11.3 |
| Croydon | £397,538 | 10.9 |
| Wolverhampton | £217,837 | 9.5 |
| Hounslow | £523,659 | 9.1 |
| Doncaster | £176,728 | 8.8 |
| Inverness | £195,534 | 8.1 |
"Further North, Doncaster and Inverness have also seen healthy growth and whilst the overall house price trend this year has been upward, anyone looking to buy in Paisley, Hackney, or Aberdeen will find homes cost a little bit less than last year."
London boroughs took nine of the top 20 places in the growth table. Inverness had the highest rise in Scotland (8.1 per cent), while Belfast (7.1) had the highest in Northern Ireland.
The figures are taken from the Halifax house price database and use the arithmetic average prices of houses – otherwise known as crude averages – on which an offer of mortgage has been granted.
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