Northern markets lead property hotspots

Landlords considering lower-cost areas for investment have been given a northern-dominated list of locations where house prices and housing supply are rising.

Research by conveyancing firm Muve puts County Durham first among 313 areas, with an average property price of £138,767 and annual growth of 4.7%.

New-build activity in the county increased by 39.1% over the past two years, while 3,073 homes were completed.

Cumberland took second place and Northumberland was third, with 28 of the 50 highest-ranked areas located in the North of England.

Affordable northern markets

David Jabbari, the firm’s chief executive, said: “It’s great to see a diverse range of credible moving locations across the country, from the overall index leader, County Durham, to Birmingham, where the number of new builds popping up creates less competition for homeowners.”

He added: “It’s the combination of both factors that signals genuine opportunity for buyers: somewhere still affordable but with enough new housing being built to suggest that the area is on a developer’s radar, and increasingly on a buyer’s shortlist too.”

Southern property hotspots

North Somerset was the highest-ranked southern area, taking ninth place nationally after house prices increased by 6.1%.

The area also recorded a 15% increase in dwellings and received a high score for life satisfaction.

West Suffolk ranked 19th, with an average property price of £298,038 and new-build growth of 35.7%.

Broadland, East Suffolk and Mid Suffolk also appeared ahead of many areas in the South East and South West.

New homes increase

Birmingham recorded 8,352 new homes over the past two years, the highest total included in the study, followed by Leeds with 7,187.

Newham was third with 5,612 completions, despite its annual total falling by 7.6%.

Among the lowest-priced locations, Hartlepool had an average house price of £129,129, narrowly below Burnley at £129,556 and Blackpool at £134,732.

County Durham, Hartlepool and Sunderland each added more than 1,000 new homes over the two-year period.