How Cumbria’s house prices have changed in the last 10 years

Many major life events have taken place in the last 10 years including financial crashes, referendums and of course, a global pandemic; all of these events have a knock on impact on the local property market.

Using Land Registry, we can compare average property prices to see how they have changed throughout the years.

We can also see if significant life events had an impact on the local property market.

Let’s take and in depth look at the Cumbrian property market to see how it has changed in the last decade.

How house prices have changed in Cumbria
(Data from January 2010- October 2020)

As you can tell from the graph, property prices have fluctuated significantly in the past decade.

However, the most up to date information from Land Registry suggests October 2020’s house prices were the highest they had been since 2010- this is a figure that has only continued to rise into the New Year.

When you compare the figure from January 2010 to the most up-to-date October 2020 data, house prices have increased by 16 per cent.

They were at their lowest in February 2012 when the average house price was just £131,711.

Although the house prices in Carlisle are much lower than the average price across Cumbria, the graph suggests they follow similar trends with house prices rising and falling at a similar rate.

When you compare January 2010’s data to the latest October 2020 data, the average property price has increased by more than 10 per cent.

A stamp duty holiday was announced in July 2020 which was meant to be a financial incentive for locals to keep buying houses.

In Cumbria, the incentive doesn't seems to have worked as property transactions between July and September decreased by 33 per cent; in Carlisle alone, transactions increased by 53 per cent.

When compared to other years, overall property transactions were also significantly lower.

As you can see from the graph, the number of property transactions in Cumbria took a nose dive in 2020 and were lower than the figures from 2010 (post financial crisis).

Before that, property transactions had been steadily increasing, jumping by over 73 per cent between 2012 and 2017.

How this data compares to the rest of England

While the average property price in Cumbria is much lower than the England average, the house prices have followed roughly the same trends- but with a few exceptions.

At the start of the decade, the UK was still recovering from the 2009 global financial crisis.

Gráinne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla said average UK home values only recovered to pre-financial crisis levels in 2015 and “have since climbed by a further 24 per cent”.

However, Ms Gilmore added that the North of England came out on top in terms of price growth in recent years which she puts down to “increased affordability” of houses in the area.

In Cumbria, when you compare January 2015’s figures to January 2020’s house prices have increased by 11.5 per cent.

In April 2016, stamp duty was increased on additional homes and more expensive homes.

According to Gráinne Gilmore, this “slowed price growth” in the South of England.

However, the same can’t be said for Cumbria where house prices increased by 3 per cent (between April- September 2016).

Grainne Gilmore added that the 2019 election also had a significant impact on UK housing prices.

She added: “The general election at the end of 2019 - which provided a definitive path forward for Brexit -  unleashed a new wave of pent-up demand [for property].”

Between the election and the announcement of lockdown (November 2019- March 2020) property prices increased by 0.6 per cent in the UK.

In Cumbria, property prices actually decreased by 1.6 per cent, signalling a decreased demand for property which goes against the national trend.

Just like the rest of the UK, Cumbria experienced a housing boom last summer when house prices began to increase.

Between May and August, house prices increased by 4.5 per cent and this figure continued climbing into September.

September 2020’s property prices were 1.6 per cent higher than those in September 2019.

How will house prices change in the future?

There has been a lot of activity in the property market in 2021 and a spokesperson for Zoopla said Christmas 2020 was their busiest festive period for a decade and the demand for property has spilled into this year.

This means it is bad news for those hoping to buy a more affordable house at the start of the year.

Ms Gilmore said: “Looking ahead, we expect house price growth to reach 5% … and then slow down by the end of the year as demand starts to ease in the second half of 2021.”