Property price surge in university towns

Halifax has published its seventh annual University Town House Price Review, in which it tracks house price movements in 79 of the UK’s university towns and cities.

The latest survey indicates strong house price rises in many of the locations, with an increase of 20% or more in 20 of the towns surveyed, a figure close to double the national average of 11%.

In the top 20 towns, the average premium paid for a property, compared with the average house price in their county, stood at of £25,852.

In Cambridge the premium was £76,288, or 36% above the average house price in Cambridgeshire.

In seven of the university towns surveyed, average house prices have increased by at least 50% over the past three years, double the UK average.

Belfast has been the strongest performer with a 97% increase in its average price over the three years to June 2007.

Aberdeen and Dundee come second and third, with rises of 75% and 64% respectively.

Taking all the university towns surveyed, the average increase in house prices over the past three years has been 26%, slightly above the average increase across the UK as a whole, at 25%.

In Nottingham the average house price is £155,072, making it the least expensive university town in the top 20, followed by Lancaster which has an average house price of £155,668.

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