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

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

The graph shows just how much property prices have fluctuated in the last decade.

The most up to date information from Land Registry suggests October 2020’s house prices were the highest they had been in the decade- this is a figure that has only continued to rise into the new year.

When you compare the figure from January 2010 to October 2020's data, house prices have increased by a whopping 49 per cent.

In this time period, property prices were at their lowest in March 2010 when the price stood at £155,355.

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

In Worcester, the incentive seemed to have worked as property transactions increased by 66 per cent last summer (May-August 2020).

However, when compared to the rest of the decade property transactions this year were significantly reduced.

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).

However, given that house viewings were unable to go ahead and people were being encouraged to say at home, it is unsurprising that these property transaction figures were so low.

How this data compares to the rest of England

While the average property price in Worcester 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”.

When you compare January 2015’s figures to January 2020’s, house prices in Worcester have increased by 21.3 per cent- which isn’t quite as much as the UK average.

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 Worcester where house prices increased by more than 3.7 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 Worcester, property prices followed a similar trend (0.5 per cent increase).

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

Between June and August, house prices increased by six per cent and this figure continued climbing into October.

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.”