Despite double-digit house price growth across the country, hundreds of thousands of UK homeowners who bought property in 2007 are likely to still be stuck in negative equity.
Almost 1.5 million property transactions were completed in 2007 when property prices reached peak levels, before the financial markets crashed in 2008.
Online estate agents House Simple looked at 75 towns and cities, analysing average house prices across 2007 and February 2016, to find which towns and cities’ house prices have recovered and which have not.
The estate agent found average property prices in more than half (53 per cent) of UK towns and cities are still less than the average price in 2007.
While average London prices have increased 56 per cent since 2007, much of the rest of the country has not been so lucky.
In fact 17 of the 20 most affected towns and cities since the financial crash are in the north of England, with the north west the worst hit by post-recession negative equity - 40 per cent of the top 20 negative equity towns and cities are in the region.
The worst affected towns are Blackpool and Middlesbrough, where house prices are still almost 30 per cent less than pre-crash highs.
Sale and Stockport in the north west, where house prices now average £252,203 and £206,368 respectively (25 and 22 per cent more than 2007), buck the trend in the region and are the only towns outside the south of England in the top 20 towns and cities where house prices have more than recovered to pre-recession levels.
House price recovery in the south has been much stronger, with property prices in Winchester seemingly recession proof, up 44 per cent to £447,046 compared to average 2007 prices.
| Town/City | Region | Average prices 2007 (£) | Average price February 2016 (£) | % difference between 2007 & Feb 2016 prices |
1 | London | London | £339,511 | £530,368 | 56.2 |
2 | Winchester | South East | £310,089 | £447,046 | 44.2 |
3 | Stevenage | East Anglia | £207,765 | £289,265 | 39.2 |
4 | Warwick | West Midlands | £200,546 | £278,396 | 38.8 |
5 | Bedford | East Anglia | £190,938 | £256,282 | 34.2 |
6 | Brighton | South East | £223,378 | £298,653 | 33.7 |
7 | Bath | South West | £314,896 | £412,211 | 30.9 |
8 | Slough | South East | £181,994 | £236,023 | 29.7 |
9 | Reading | South East | £208,364 | £270,002 | 29.6 |
10 | Sale | North West | £202,452 | £252,203 | 24.6 |
11 | Oxford | South East | £242,896 | £300,717 | 23.8 |
12 | Bristol | South West | £181,588 | £223,688 | 23.2 |
13 | Canterbury | South East | £217,992 | £266,621 | 22.3 |
14 | Eastbourne | South East | £208,170 | £254,585 | 22.3 |
15 | Stockport | North West | £169,813 | £206,368 | 21.5 |
16 | Worcester | West Midlands | £177,492 | £208,620 | 17.5 |
17 | Milton Keynes | South East | £171,861 | £201,081 | 17.0 |
18 | Cambridge | East Anglia | £191,331 | £223,837 | 17.0 |
19 | Colchester | East Anglia | £200,740 | £234,680 | 16.9 |
20 | Luton | East Anglia | £145,595 | £169,184 | 16.2 |
House Simple’s chief executive Alex Gosling said: “There is light at the end of the tunnel with prices now climbing across the country, and that should help bring many more homeowners out of negative equity.
“However, for people living in towns like Blackpool and Middlesbrough, it’s going to take some time before prices come close to 2007 levels.”
peter.walker@ft.com
