HOUSE prices in Edinburgh and Stirling are among the best performing across the UK, according to new figures.
Gatehouse Bank’s Land Registry data released yesterday showed the two cities were in the list of the top 10 places for property prices in the UK.
Stirling was the sixth best location, with an 8.3% increase in average prices from 2017 to 2018, while Edinburgh stood at number nine with a rise of 7.2%.
In December 2018, the average price of a house in Stirling stood at £187,620, while in Edinburgh the figure was £260,221.
Charles Haresnape, CEO of Gatehouse Bank, said: “It was an unpredictable year for house prices in 2018 and in the end, although the market only just outpaced inflation on the whole, there were still some stand out performances.
“Increases of 10.6% in Newport and 9.7% in Merthyr Tydfil are pretty striking when you consider the political instability that has weighed on the UK since the Brexit vote.
“Of course, a strong increase in one year is no guarantee of future success. Indeed, only three places in 2017’s top 10 appear in 2018’s top flight, with first place Cambridge dropping to 259th of all local authority areas last year.”
Glasgow, which featured in the 2017 top 10 list, was not present in the 2018 rundown.
And Aberdeen – once a high flier for house prices – rose the ranks of the list of worst 10 locations for property, sitting at number one with an average decrease of £10,708.
The average cost of a house in the city stood at £152,799 at the end of 2018, making it the UK’s worst performing area outside of London.
Haresnape added: “Poor performances like that seen in Aberdeen, which fell 6.5%, are proof that the cocktail of economic uncertainty, lack of housing supply and a raft of buyer incentives and cheap borrowing are creating a heady mix of outcomes across the country.”
Overall, 318, (78.3%) of all of the UK’s 406 local authorities saw price rises over 2018, while just 88 saw decreases, totalling a growth rate of 2.6%.
Newport in Wales topped the charts, with average property prices rising an impressive 10.6% to £182,505.
Also in Wales, the second best performing area was Merthyr Tydfil, with a rise of 9.7% to £106,228.
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