House prices: most expensive and cheapest areas to buy in the UK

Properties in Greater London cost in excess of £210,000 more on average than homes in the next most expensive UK region despite nationwide price rises over the past year, newly released figures show.

The average asking price in the English capital and surrounding area is £612,465, followed by the South East at £400,150, according to Rightmove’s latest house price index.

The Midlands has seen the fastest annual increases, with year-on-year growth of 4.2% in the West Midlands and 3.8% in the East Midlands.

And the West Midlands and East of England saw the fastest month-on-month price growth following the December general election, rising by 2.6% and 2.7% respectively. Average house prices have risen in all regions of England since the Tories’ landslide victory.

Celebrating the nationwide hikes, Marc von Grundherr, director at Benham & Reeves estate agents, said: “We have absolutely seen a post-election bounce, quite substantially actually... People have been waiting for stability, and the moment it arrived, confidence in the market has increased significantly.

“There has been a dramatic Boris bounce, so to speak, with real optimism among buyers still getting good value.”

The only areas in the UK where prices have fallen in the post-election period are Wales and Scotland. 

Property prices in Scotland have dropped by 0.8% to an average of £149,664, while Wales has seen a 0.9% decline to an average of £193,106.

However, The Scottish property market is the fastest in the UK, with the average sale taking just 48 days. The North East is the slowest, with homes taking around 80 days to sell.

Here are the regions ranked by average prices, from high to low: