Bolton named the worst place to have bought a house this century
It's the only place in England and Wales to see a fall in average property prices since the millennium.
Bolton city centre is the worst place to have bought a house this century according to online estate agent eMoov.
The research, based on data from the Office of National Statistics, shows that Bolton city centre is the only location out of 7,207 in England and Wales that has seen a decrease in the average property value over this time period.
At the start of the millennium, the average house price in the centre of Bolton was £77,202, which almost £8,000 less than the UK average.
Despite peaking at £105,608 in the first quarter of 2008, the current average house price in the area has dropped -9% since the beginning of 2000 and now sits at £70,621. That’s considerably lower than the UK average of £221,254.
Homeowners have seen an average increase of +172% since 2000; even those in the majority of the worst performing areas have enjoyed a rise.
Take a look at the 10 worst places to have bought a property since the millennium:
|
Location |
% increase |
|
Bolton city centre |
-9% |
|
Leicester city centre |
+9% |
|
Birmingham, near Aston University |
+27% |
|
Leeds, Woodhouse |
+38% |
|
Birmingham (north of Birmingham New Street) |
+42% |
|
Knowsley, near Huyton |
+46% |
|
Liverpool (south docks) |
+51% |
|
Stockton-on-Tees (Salters Lane) |
+54% |
|
Liverpool city centre |
+55% |
|
Isles of Scilly |
+58% |
|
England and Wales |
+172% |
Source: eMoov
Fortunately, the other 42 areas in the local authority of Bolton have all seen an increase in values over the last 16 years, 16 of which have been higher than the average across England and Wales.
Why has Bolton city centre performed so badly?
The high number of buy-to-let properties in Bolton is apparently to blame for the poor house price perfomance, with investors driving down prices by buying multiple properties at a time.
A low demand for property in Bolton which isn’t helping matters either. eMoov’s latest National Hotspots Index found that demand in Bolton as a whole is a mere 28%, 13% less than the national average.
Russell Quirk, the founder and CEO of eMoov, reckons that the situation won’t be improving any time soon for Bolton homeowners either. He said: “You have to feel for those that have seen the value of their property drop in Bolton, it’s almost the equivalent of everyone in the UK buying a lottery ticket and you being the only one that doesn’t hit the jackpot.”
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