UK's hottest and coldest property markets of 2020 revealed

Luton has been named as one of the property losers of 2020.  

The Bedfordshire town came third in a countdown of the house price growth losers of 2020, with a drop in average property price of 1.7 per cent between December 2019 and October 2020, from £231,366 to £227,390. 

The losers list was topped by Hartlepool and Aberdeen, where prices fell by 6.5 and 4.7 per cent respectively.  

Liverpool was crowned the year’s property hotspot, with a 15.1 per cent increase in the average house price, followed by Slough (11.8 per cent) and Worcester (10 per cent).  

The average shift UK-wide was 4.2 per cent, with prices increasing from £251,711 to £262,175 over the same period. St Albans saw a respectable 3.8 per cent rise, from £507,906 to £527,224, while London prices were up by 2.5 per cent.  

Property seller Movewise analysed latest Land Registry data for more than 100 major UK towns and cities to make these findings.  

Tom Scarborough, CEO and founder of Movewise, said: “Considering the economic and social challenges we’ve faced this year, the UK property market has once again proved itself to be extremely resilient in the face of adversity. 

“However, the impact of lockdown has also seen a noticeable shift in where we want to live and what we want from our homes, and that has fuelled house price growth in towns beyond the commuter belt. The desire to live in major cities with all the conveniences they afford was replaced by the need to have some outside space and a better quality of life. 

“Even after lockdown ended, many of us have re-evaluated what we want from our home life. The need to be within a commutable distance to major cities such as London is no longer so important. We expect this migration to continue through 2021 with more people making the decision to live further out from major urban areas, particularly as the working from home trend gathers momentum.”