House prices: record north-south divide
For the price of the average home in the south, you could buy two in the north
AVERAGE house prices in the south of England are now double those in Wales and the north, according to a new survey.
Rightmove found that last month the average asking price for a home in what it considers the south – London, the Southeast, Southwest and East Anglia – increased by 4.7% to £336,743. Meanwhile in the north – Wales, the Midlands, the Northwest, Northeast and Yorkshire and Humberside – prices fell 0.7% to £164,347.
The difference in prices is the biggest Rightmove has recorded since it started publishing its index in 2002.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said that better mortgage availability and higher asking prices suggest increasing demand, but that the new figures are evidence of a "two-tier twist" between north and south. He observed that "for the average asking price of a property in the south you could now buy two average properties in the north and still have enough change left to buy new carpets and curtains".
Shipside said that the key drivers of activity in the housing market - a substantial deposit and a secure job to fund repayments – are more prevalent in the south than in the north. ·
