Bristol has been touted as the city to buck the trends over the course of 2019, with prices set to increase by around 1.5%.
The ‘Find the Gap’ report, published by property investment company JLL, predicts that the south-east will not experience any growth in house prices and London will manage around 0.5%.
The report believes Bristol’s property values will outperform prices recorded over the last 12 months and the city will see a 2.8% rise a year, higher than the predicted UK wide 2.2% growth.
In 2018, a two bedroom flat in Bristol cost on average £290,000, an annual increase of 1.8%.
There is a strong demand for city centre homes, in particular one and two bedroom apartments. Plans are underway to build Bristol’s highest residential tower, along with a number of new development schemes being proposed.
JLL’s residential development director at their Bristol office, James Petherick, said: “Bristol continues to pick up accolades for desirable city centre living, so it is no surprise that demand for housing is continuing to rise.”
“We see demand continuing to outstrip supply over the next five years leading to significant increases in rental values and house prices.”
“Despite several new city centre schemes on the horizon, including the creation of build-to-rent developments which will help to plug the gap, Bristol’s planners and developers need to think creatively and flexibly if we are to build sufficient homes to meet demand.”
Bristol’s rental sector is the UK’s seventh strongest
Bristol’s rental pipeline is the seventh strongest in the UK with 10 new schemes planned to provide 2,100 units. A lack of rental property and a rising student population in a city where students already account for one third of the rental population is driving rental values up.
Last year they rose by 4.1% and JLL’s latest report predicts that over the coming five years, rental values will go up an average of 3.1% versus a UK average of 2.4%.
South-west house price rises beat UK average
In the 10 years to Q4 2018, since the global financial crisis, house prices in the south-west increased by 46% compared with a 43% increase across the UK.
Bristol’s ongoing economic growth (GVA) is set to rise by 2.5% per annum according to the report with employment growth remaining steady between 2018 and 2022.
