North-south housing market divide 'wider than ever'

Monday, 17 October 2011 10:27

The north-south divide in the housing market is wider than ever, new figures have shown.

According to property website Rightmove, the average asking price in the south is £336,743, more than double the equivalent in the north of £164,347.

This gap of £170,000 is the largest since the firm's house price records began in 2002.

Nationally, new sellers' asking prices rose 2.8 per cent over the last month, Rightmove's analysis continued, but this shift "masks a two-tier UK property market".

Values in the south rose by 4.7 per cent setting new records along the way, while those in the north fell by 0.7 per cent.

Compared to the beginning of the credit crunch four years ago, prices of properties coming to market have risen by 5.4 per cent in the south but fallen by 9.6 per cent in the north.

London's average of £450,210 is 2.6 per cent higher than the previous record set in June, while in the south-east as a whole, the current figure of £317,055 is 0.2 per cent up on the previous high in May 2008.

Meanwhile, the number of mortgage approvals hit the highest level since November 2009, as buyers with sizeable deposits took advantage of low-rate deals, it added.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: ''Wider access to mortgages and rising asking prices are early signs of increasing demand, giving homeowners some grounds for hope of a market recovery.

''However, the reality is that there is further evidence of a two-tier twist which is dogging the return to more widespread liquidity in the housing market.''

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