Flat prices up almost £85,000 since 2009

Survey finds

Flat prices have grown by 53 per cent in the last seven years compared with growth of 39 per cent  for all property types.

Average price of a flat in London is £230,894 more than rest of UK. Detached home prices have increased the least, rising by 19 per cent since 2009.

The average price of a flat in the UK has risen by £84,644 (£1,008 per month) in the past seven years from £159,292 in Q4 2009 to £243,936 in Q4 2016, according to the latest research from Halifax.

Terraced homes are the most affordable for buyers.

At an average price of £215,690, terraced homes are the most affordable property type in the UK, followed by semi-detached (£225,070) and then flats (£243,936). Outside London, however, flats are the most affordable (£167,144) followed by terraced (£185,116).

A typical terraced home costs less than £125,000 – below the lowest stamp duty threshold – in the North (£121,363) and Wales (£123,095) and less than £150,000 in all other regions outside southern England.

Flats cost less than £125,000, on average, in the North (£116,855), Yorkshire and the Humber (£124,734) and East Midlands (£123,561). Whilst average flat prices are lower than any other property type in London, at £398,038 they are considerably higher than flat prices anywhere else in the UK.

Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said: “Nationally, terraced and semi-detached homes are the most affordable and popular homes with buyers accounting for 60 per cent of sales during 2016. However average price growth for flats, helped by the London market, have outperformed all other property types since 2009.

“There has been an increasing trend for first time buyers to choose semi-detached homes over the past seven years, whilst terraced homes have shown a decline in popularity. The rise in the age of a typical first time buyer may partly account for this change in preference towards the family-friendly semi.”