The property market in the UK has fluctuated significantly in the last decade, influenced by political movements, financial crises and even worldwide pandemics.

But how do these statistics compare to York’s?

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 York property market to see how it has changed in the last decade.

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

As you can tell from the graph, average property prices have fluctuated significantly over the last ten years and property prices last September were the highest they had ever been in 10 years.

When you compare the figure from January 2010 to the most up-to-date October 2020 data, house prices have increased by 44 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 York, the incentive seemed to have worked as property transactions increased by 68 per cent per cent between May and August 2020.

However, when you consider the decade as a whole these figures aren’t as impressive.

As you can tell from the graph, property transactions nosedived in 2020 and were the lowest they had been since 2010 (post 2009 economic crash).

How this data compares to the rest of England

While the average property price in York is slightly higher than the England average, house price fluctuations have followed similar 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”.

When you compare January 2015’s figures to January 2020’s, house prices in York have increased by 19.9 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 York where house prices increased by more than 2.4 per cent (between April- August 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 England.

In York, property demand and prices increased by even more than this (1.6 per cent increase).

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

Between May and August, house prices increased by 2.3  per cent and this figure continued climbing into the latter part of the year.

A spokesperson for Hudson Moody’s Estate Agents in York said the lockdown has also forced local people to re-evaluate their living situations.

They added: “Younger peopled have looked for more space to work from home and increasingly looking for garden space.

"The older generations have looked to downsize as families are no longer coming to stay and they wish to be closer to family and friends.”

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.”