There’s something magical about Christmas, especially with UK house prices jumping by 38.9% since the last ‘widespread’ white Christmas in December 2010.
That is according to lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves, which has revealed where homeowners have seen the best and worst house price growth since the last time snow hit.
Using Land Registry data, the firm found that UK house prices have jumped from an average of £168,703 to their current average of £243,370.
England has enjoyed the largest increase of all UK nations at 42.4%, while London has seen the largest regional growth at 66.3%. The capital, of course, accounts for the areas that have enjoyed a sizeable rise since snow last fell on Christmas Day, with the City of London seeing the largest increase across the nation at 101.8% – very closely followed by Waltham Forest (101.6%).
Hackney, Lewisham and Barking and Dagenham also fared well in the capital, while outside London, the largest increase was seen in Slough (75.5%), Corby (71.6%), Harlow (70.1%) and Medway (67.7%).
Traditionally, Aberdeen has seen the worst house price performance since the last white Christmas, with property values down 7.1%, joined by Inverclyde (-1.7%), with County Durham the only other area to register a negative change (-1.3%).
“We may all be dreaming of one, but the chances of a white Christmas are depressingly low in this day and age,” Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, comments.
He says it’s encouraging to see that despite the UK property market being submerged in political and economic uncertainty over the last few years, house prices have grown in almost all areas of the UK since the last widespread white Christmas was recorded.
“Although we probably won’t see snow this Christmas, this almost decade long stint of positive market momentum is unlikely to let up and we should see yet further upward growth gifted to UK homeowners this coming year,” he adds.
“Unless you live in Aberdeen, Inverclyde or County Durham, all of which seem to be well and truly on the property naughty list.”
