Cambridge property outstrips London with 33% leap

The cities where house prices have surpassed their pre-crisis peak: Cambridge property outstrips London with 33% leap

Property values in Cambridge have rebounded more strongly than any other major city in Britain according to property analyst Hometrack.

Prices in the city have surged 32.5 per cent higher compared to their 2007 peak to reach £348,300 on average. This beats even London, where values sit 29 per cent above their peak at £398,700 typically.

The only other cities to have surpassed their pre-crisis peak are Oxford, Aberdeen, Bristol, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth. It is a new index from the property market analysts which looks at 20 cities across Britain.

Cambridge houses a world-famous university and a booming biomedical industry, with AstraZeneca opening a £330million research facility by the end of 2016 in the city. It is also moving its London corporate offices with it.

The university is working on a huge £1billion development which includes new research facilities, 3,000 homes, new schools, shops and surgeries.

It is also well connected, with frequent trains to London Liverpool Street and King's Cross taking roughly an hour and the M11 which also heads south, making it a popular hub for commuters.

In the summer, property website Rightmove said Cambridge had the 'hottest' housing market, with houses taking an average of 27 days to sell, compared to 39 the previous year.

Other cities, such as Belfast, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow still have some distance to climb before prices match their 2007 levels.

In Belfast, prices have fallen by more than 50 per cent since the property peak. Liverpool has prices 15 per cent below and Glasgow 14.9 per cent.

London surge: Property values in the capital have grown the fastest in the last 12 months

Over the past year, London, Cambridge and Bristol have seen the strongest uplifts in values out of the cities looked at, while Glasgow and Leicester have seen the lowest increases, according to the findings.

Fourteen out of the 20 cities looked at recorded year-on-year house price inflation which was below the average seen across the whole of the UK. Across the country generally, the typical house price has lifted by nine per cent or £15,300 over the last year to reach £184,580.

The average London house price has increased by 18.1 per cent, or £61,000 in cash terms, over the year to September, while a home buyer in Cambridge would need to find 17.9 per cent or £53,000 more than they would a year ago.

Meanwhile, the average Bristol property has added 14.1 per cent or £26,900 onto its value over the last year.

Glasgow recorded the smallest year-on-year percentage increase in prices of the 20 cities looked at, with property prices there lifting by 4.3 per cent or £4,600 in cash terms to reach £109,200. Property values in Leicester have increased by 4.8 per cent or £6,600 year-on-year to reach £141,400.

Source:  www.thisismoney.co.uk