Assetz® News - Brighton booms as southern prices continue to lead the way

Brighton booms as southern prices continue to lead the way

20th April 2007 |

Property investors looking for the best value may choose to look somewhere other than the south of England. That, it appears, is the unspoken message of the latest Halifax Estate Agent's survey of UK cities and their property prices.

The survey judges property per square foot, a useful tool when one is dealing with space that may be converted from non-residential to residential use, or when a single home may be converted into multiple-occupancy flats.

Brighton has found itself catching all the headlines after the survey was published, coming top of 62 cities (though technically, it is only part of a city, along with Hove), for its increase in price per square metre. "Properties in the city now cost £2,559 per square metre, compared with £673 ten years ago," proclaimed Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis. This amounts to a 280 per cent rise.

The other highest risers were also in the south. Predictably enough, some might say, this included London, up 254 per cent. But the capital saw only the third highest increase. Truro, which according to Cornwall Online currently has a population estimated at just 19,000, came second with 270 per cent.

Compared with ten years ago, the identity of the most expensive locations has changed, but they're still all in the same region. London, at £3,383 per square metre, is now top, whereas ten years ago it was St Albans. The Hertfordshire city, which now sells property at £2,903 per square metre, is now third, having also been overtaken by Oxford at £3,010.

According to another Halifax Economist, Martin Mills, the city of dreaming spires has its own special reason for rising property values. In January this year he said that average house prices in Oxford were 70 per cent above the national average, compared with 56 per cent above in 1986. The intervening years, he said, had seen the popularity and image of Oxford boosted by none other than Inspector Morse.

Whatever the peculiarities of individual locations, the overall south-centric trend of higher property prices is clear. Other patterns are also confirmed by the Halifax survey. With Armargh (up 231 per cent) the sixth highest riser and Belfast (up 229 per cent) seventh, the impact of the peace dividend in Northern Ireland is clear, with Ulster prices also boosted by the popularity of second homes there with wealthy people from the booming economy in the republic.

Similarly, the benefits of capital status for Edinburgh and Cardiff post-devolution are also evident, these now being the most expensive places per square foot in Scotland and Wales with respective figures of £2,218 and £1,777.

All this leaves, by process of elimination, a clear picture. For those looking to invest in property, the lowest purchase costs for the most space remain the cities not on the list. By their non-mention, the likes of Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and the other large provincial cities that are engaged in fervent regeneration drives stand out as favorable prospects. The message is indeed unspoken, but it is clear.