House Prices are subject to the North – South divide

Property prices rose and fell around Britain last year but the trend overall was downward. With already low interest rates and lenders being cautious many people will have to continue to rent as mortgages are out of their reach

According to the figures released by Nationwide this week house prices fell last year however this is not the story over the Great Britain as a whole.

While average house prices fell in the North of England, Wales and Scotland by around 3%, worse in Northern Ireland which suffered an Northern Ireland 8.2% fall, while property prices rose in London by 0.7%.

Commuter zones also benefited from a slight rise, and by 0.2% the in the South West. This is probably due to the higher employment rates in these areas.

Many tenants would like to buy but deposit requirements are making it impossible for them to do so. Taking an average first-time buyer property price of £140,000 requiring a 20% deposit which amounts to £28,000, this would require buyers to save £450 a month for five years, assuming an interest rate of 2.5%. Out of most people’s pockets we believe.

So it appears that renting is going to be the future for many young people in the UK, if they want to set up their own home.

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