University towns 'have higher house prices'

06-Oct-2008

First-time buyers about to get on to the property ladder might find the area in which they choose to live has a £20,000-impact on their mortgage value.

According to figures from Halifax and the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 35 university towns in the UK have an average house price higher than in surrounding areas.

The average price premium is £20,335 compared to their county average.

Homes in Winchester have an average house price 50 per cent above that of the county average, while Manchester has seen average house price growth of 63 per cent over the last five years.

The ten most expensive university towns are all in the south-east and include Bath, Oxford and Cambridge, while the least expensive are Hull, Stoke-on-Trent, Bradford and Salford.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, commented: "The majority of the university towns we have surveyed have an average house price higher than the average for their county."

Last week Nationwide reported that the average house price stands at £161,797, an annual change of -12.4 per cent.

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