Average British property values up £2,298 during 2012

The value of the average British home has risen by £2,298 over the last year, according to research from property website Zoopla.co.uk. The average property value in Britain now stands at £228,226, up 1% from £225,928 one year ago.

The national average home value climbed steadily each month during the first half of the year, reaching a 2012 peak of £230,297 in June, but has subsequently retreated and fallen for each of the last six months to its current level.

The average increase at a national level during 2012 masks the stark contrast between different regions around Britain. A strong performance for house prices in London over the last 12 months, where the average property value has increased 6.8% (£28,471), as well as elsewhere in the South disguises the continued property price weakness elsewhere in Britain and the acceleration of the North-South divide in the housing market performance.

Average property values fell in seven of the eleven regions across Britain over 2012 with Wales as the worst performing region where the average house price has fallen 3.1% over the past 12 months. Yorkshire and the Humber was not far behind with the average property there losing 2.9% of its value during 2012.

Looking at Britain’s key urban areas, the North-South divide is reinforced with the worst performing areas in 2012 being Barnsley, where the average home value has fallen by 3.6% (-£4,435) over the past 12 months followed by Lincoln and Bradford where values have fallen 2.1% and 2% respectively. Other than London, Cambridge saw the biggest increase in house prices up 5.9% (£18,026) during 2012, followed by Plymouth and Derby up 4.9% and 4.1% respectively.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.co.uk said, “2012 has been a year of two halves. During the first half of the year the housing market showed strong signs followed by a weaker second half. And for the Southern half of the country, 2012 was a year of property price growth whilst for those in the other half of the country the picture was far less rosy.”