Yorkshire set for highest house price rises of any region in England in 2021

House prices in the region are expected to be 1.75 per cent higher than in 2020, compared to the national prediction of a one per cent rise.

This forecast is lower than recent growth, however, as prices in Yorkshire were up four per cent in October compared with the same period of 2019.

In Leeds, this figure was 4.9 per cent, with the cost of a home averaging £174,400 in October, the third highest level of growth of any city and greater than the UK average rise of 3.5 per cent.

This is also up from annual house price growth of 2.6 per cent in Leeds this time last year.

Many anticipated this year would be a bumper year for the property market as activity ramped up in the wake of the general election.

While the Covid-19 pandemic meant a near-shutdown of the housing market in the second quarter, the rebound has resulted in what researchers described as a “remarkable turnaround”.

The number of housing sales is currently more than a third higher than the previous year, the research from property listings site Zoopla found, with completed sales at the end of 2020 just six per cent shy of 2019 levels.

Richard Donnell, director of research and insight at Zoopla, said: “It has been a roller coaster year for the housing market which is ending on a strong note with demand and sales agreed still more than 30 per cent higher than this time last year.

“House price growth has hit a three-year high and is set to increase further in the short term.”

He added that the high volume of sales agreed this autumn will spill over as completed sales in 2021.

“It has been a remarkable turnaround and completed sales look set to fall just six per cent short of last year despite a two-month closure of the market in England.”