Don’t be put off buying a home because of the ‘average house prices’ in the media

Pretty much on a weekly basis the media will report what’s happening to average prices in the property market.

With the average house price being around £500,000 in London, how can anyone afford to get on the 'property ladder’? Well guess what, people can get on the ladder for an awful lot less than the ‘average’ quoted property price.

To show how misleading average property prices are, we produce a quarterly report on 30 cities across the UK to show the difference between the ‘average price’ and a reasonable two bed flat or terraced house. In contrast, we also show the most expensive.

The ‘cheapest’ and ‘most expensive’ flat and two bedroom terrace in the UK show how pointless the ‘average house price’ is for buyers and sellers.

Here’s our latest report which shows that:

1.  Two bed terraces can be up to 63% cheaper than the ‘average house price’ in Bradford and 37% higher. And there is a similar difference for those buying in Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester and Sheffield.  

2.  Two bed flats can be a staggering 74% cheaper in Glasgow, Scotland than the ‘average house price’ and an even bigger 303% higher. In cities such as Newcastle, Bradford, Sheffield and Cardiff in Wales, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive flat price is even larger, showing how completely irrelevant the ‘average property price’ of a city or town is for buyers and sellers.

It might be surprising that the variability of flat prices in our major cities is so much more than two bed terraces, but that’s likely to be due to the huge amount of regeneration in city centres over the last two decades, with penthouse apartments often overlooking or even opposite ex-social housing.

Flats available to buy for just £45,000

It’s sad we are only reporting average prices of £172,494 for Glasgow, making many renters or people living at home think they have no chance of buying a property when flats are available for 74% less – under £50,000. And although they may not be the most desirable properties in the best of locations, very few people bought their perfect home in the location they wanted, we all had to get on the ‘first rung of the ladder’ and trade our way up to the homes of our dreams, if not near to what we wanted in the location we wanted to live.

Two bed terraces in London range from £350,000 to £7,450,000

It’s not a surprise that the largest difference between the cheapest and most expensive two bed property is in London – but this also shows how pointless the ‘average price’ of £534,000 is.

This is especially the case when Shared Ownership properties can be bought for under £100,000, still not affordable for everyone, but at least a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for those desperately wanting a home of their own as opposed to renting privately, especially in the current tough market (July 23).

Areas with the least difference between the cheapest and most expensive two bed property

For two bed houses, the smallest difference is in the likes of Bournemouth, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Croydon and Aberdeen. Here, properties are closer to the averages, but still some distance apart.

Especially in Croydon, where the cheapest two bed terraces can be found for £325,000 compared to the most expensive at £575,000, still a few hundred thousand difference, but a lot less than the London capital on the doorstep.

Areas with the least difference between the cheapest and most expensive flats

As with the overall analysis, flats have a much larger difference than houses. Belfast has the smallest range with the cheapest flat being 35% below the average and the most expensive 49% above.

Brighton and Hove, although the cheapest is still 50% below the ‘average price’, the most expensive to live by the seaside remains much higher at £1,175,000. Perhaps the most surprising to appear on this list is Liverpool, with the cheapest flat being £95,000 and the most expensive home at £600,000.

Find out how much less you can buy a two bed flat or house in your area for with our detailed analysis of:

Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh Aberdeen, Cardiff, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bradford, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Norwich, Peterborough, Birmingham, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Gloucester, Oxford, Cambridge, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton and Hove, Reading, Croydon, Tunbridge Wells, Bristol, London

To see the full list of all these towns, click here 

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