PropTech intelligence group hails housing market's return to stability

The housing market has returned to stability with exchanges up one per cent year on year and the average house price some 3.3 per cent higher during the course of 2017.

The figures come from TwentyCI, the marketing and data intelligence group that runs - amongst other things - the ViewMyChain sales progression tool.

However, within that broadly stable landscape the group says London continues to show a marked disparity from the rest of the UK in terms of both exchanges (down two per cent) and prices (down five per cent). 

Inside the capital West London achieved the highest average asking price in the final quarter, although prices in that area were still down two per cent year-on-year. North London suffered the greatest decline in house prices, down 13 per cent annually, while south east London was the only area of the capital to see prices rise, up three per cent year-on- year.

Wales bucked the trend in the other direction with a stark 11 per cent increase in exchanges year-on-year.

Outside of London, Bristol and Birmingham achieved the highest average asking price in the final quarter of the year. Birmingham also say the greatest increase in asking prices year-on-year along with Edinburgh, both up eight per cent, following by Manchester up six per cent.

Across the UK as a whole, unsurprisingly it was the most expensive properties priced at £5m and above which suffered the most in the last year with a 22 per cent annual decline in exchanges. 

However there was a 10 per cent increase in the number of exchanges of properties priced at £500,000 to £750,000.

TwentyCI revealed earlier this month that online-only estate agents’ market share had increased by 13 per cent in the last quarter of 2017, but still made up just six per cent of the overall market.