Three major cities buck commuter belt trend
The latest research from Property DriveBuy has found that house price growth across Britain’s major cities continues to lag behind their surrounding commuter belts in most cases, although three major cities are now bucking this wider trend by delivering stronger and more consistent rates of growth, whilst London is the only city to see a negative rate of price appreciation.
Property DriveBuy analysed the average monthly rate of house price growth seen over the last 12 months across major British cities and compared it to the average monthly rate of growth recorded across the surrounding local authorities that form each city’s commuter belt.
The analysis shows that commuter belt locations continue to deliver stronger house price growth in the majority of cases, with cities including Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow all seeing lower monthly rates of growth than their surrounding areas.
In Newcastle, house price performance has remained balanced, with both the city and its commuter belt recording the same average monthly rate of growth of 0.50%.
However, there are three major cities that are bucking the wider trend, outperforming their commuter belts when it comes to consistent house price growth.
Liverpool has seen the strongest performance, with average house prices increasing by 0.77% per month over the last year, more than double the 0.33% seen across its commuter belt.
Manchester has also outperformed the surrounding commuter belt, with city house prices increasing by 0.47% per month compared to 0.32% across surrounding areas.
Edinburgh completes the trio, posting average monthly growth of 0.44%, ahead of the 0.23% seen across its commuter belt.
At the other end of the spectrum, London stands alone as the only major city to have seen house prices decline, with values falling at an average monthly rate of -0.08% over the last year. In contrast, the capital’s commuter belt has continued to see positive growth, with house prices increasing at an average monthly rate of 0.12%.
With buyers increasingly exploring a wider range of locations as part of their search, Property DriveBuy’s geo-location powered property search platform allows users to discover homes in real time based on their live surroundings, helping them identify opportunities across both city and commuter markets.
Steve Foreman, Founder and CEO of Property DriveBuy, commented:
“Commuter belt locations have traditionally been some of the strongest performing segments of the property market, largely because they offer buyers greater space and affordability, whilst remaining within commutable distance of major cities. However, our analysis shows that this isn’t a uniform trend and there are major cities where house price growth is currently outperforming surrounding areas.
For buyers, this highlights the importance of keeping an open mind and exploring all parts of the market, as there are clear opportunities emerging in cities that continue to see consistent growth, as well as in commuter locations. Of course, even across the commuter belts themselves, house price performance can vary drastically and so having a full picture of what’s happening locally is key to making the right decision.
This is exactly why we built Property DriveBuy. Our app allows buyers to see what homes are available around them in real time, giving them the ability to discover opportunities as they explore different cities and neighbourhoods, rather than being restricted by traditional search methods. By helping buyers connect with property in a more natural and location-led way, we’re making it easier to uncover homes they might otherwise have missed.”
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