Blog Post
Affordability explains regional house price performance in 2024
Gillian Bell
Jan 10, 2025, 13:30 PM
We now know how different regions performed over 2024. While across the UK average prices grew by 3.6%, the North was the top performing region up 5.9%, through to East Anglia at the lowest, where prices grew by just 0.5%.
A key reason for the difference in performance is affordability. The regions with lower performance over 2024 were typically also the most expensive.
The shift to higher mortgage rates has had most impact on underlying affordability in these expensive regions (London, South East and Outer Metropolitan – the commuter belt around London).
The Bank of England is expected to make further interest rate cuts this year, any flow on to improvement in mortgage rates will help affordability in these expensive regions the most.
Affordability will remain a central theme for 2025: prices are expected to rise this year but with limited impetus from the macro economic backdrop, affordability will remain the most critical driver. Source: Dataloft by PriceHubble, Nationwide
Leave a comment