House prices in Leeds have risen nearly 6 per cent in 2020, more than almost every other city in Britain

Houses in the city were selling for an average of £175,000 in November, driven by a surge in demand, according to the figures from property website Zoopla.

Only Manchester saw bigger price rises, the figures showed, where prices went up 5.7 per cent.

Yorkshire and the Humber as a whole also saw the second greatest level of annual house price growth of any UK region in November – up 4.9 per cent annually.

Aligned with the UK as a whole, the region has seen a rebound in sales activity in 2020, driven by the reassessment of lifestyle priorities brought on by the pandemic and, to a lesser extent, the stamp duty holiday, property agents said.

The number of sales agreed in Yorkshire is up 8.1 per cent annually, which is below the national average of 9.1 per cent, and the value of those sales is up 21.3 per cent annually, which is also below the national average of 26 per cent.

Richard Donnell, director of research and insight at Zoopla, said: “The housing market is ending 2020 strongly with more buyers looking for a home than this time last year.

“The ‘once in a lifetime re-assessment of housing’ kick-started by the pandemic has further to run in our view and this will support demand into 2021.

“With a long Christmas weekend, and many households isolating in smaller groups, we expect interest in housing to be stronger than usual ahead of the traditional Boxing Day bounce when interest in housing jumps and the next tranche of would-be buyers.

“While market activity is being boosted by latent demand unlocked by the pandemic, the housing market is not immune to economic forces and rising unemployment. Economic pressures are already impacting in parts of the market, reducing the volume and share of sales in less wealthy areas, for example.”