As we head towards the end of the year, home services marketplace Plentific has released a 2016 Property Price Index, providing a look at how the UK’s housing prices have behaved over the last 12 months, with some surprising results.

The study found that residential property prices around the UK have seen a general increase this year, led by gains in Aylesbury, where the average price of a home has increased by 21.5%.

The prices of new commuter hotspots has risen significantly this year and it seems the London ripple effect has pushed past Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Tring and had a huge impact on this town in Buckinghamshire.

The What’s Hot table is dominated by London and the South East, with just under half of the listed areas coming from the capital.

Greenwich (19.91%), Hammersmith (17.46%) and Chelsea (18%) lead the way in London, while St Albans (17.28%), Sutton (17.39%), Reading (16.9%) and Brentwood (19.43%) join Aylesbury for commuter areas surging in value.

Wirral is the only northern area to make the top ten with a value increase of 16.58% – average properties in this area will have increased by more than £32,000 this year alone. 

What’s hot top 10 

The lack of northern regions in the upper section of the grid emphasises how the south has had more success with house prices this year.

But while the northern region is not thriving quite as well as the south, almost every town and city in this area has increased in value this year, with the exception of Middlesbrough, where the average price of a home has fallen by 1.62% during the past year.

Other northern areas to make the lower-list include Rotherham with a value increase of 3.48%, Salford at 3.08% and Bradford at 2.99%.

What’s not hot top 10

Spokesperson for Plentific, Stephen Jury, said: “Our report shows the winners and losers in property this year. More importantly, it gives valuable insight to those wanting to get onto the property ladder or invest in property in areas with good potential for price increases.

“We have found a fifth of homeowners carry out home improvements to increase the value of their property. Buying and renovating a fixer-upper in the right area will increase the value significantly, so this is worth considering when hunting for property.”

London top 10