Sunbury-on-Thames sees biggest house price rise in UK in 2024

It’s very name conjures images of warmth, and now Sunbury-on-Thames has been named as a property hotspot. According to listings website Rightmove, the Surrey town recorded the biggest rise in asking prices in Great Britain last year, registering a 12.5% leap in the average, from £527,005 to £592,976.

The town has long been popular with commuters, as it takes less than an hour to travel into London Waterloo station, and is close to the recently expanded Shepperton Studios, which now claims to be the second biggest film studio in the world.

Second on Rightmove’s list were Bristol City Centre and Swinton in Greater Manchester, which both recorded a 9% leap in asking prices. In Bristol, this took the average to £391,042, while in Swinton – which is part of Salford – the average hit £264,081.

Across Great Britain as a whole the average asking price rose by just 1.4% over the year, Rightmove said, and in London they dropped by 0.8%.

However, other price indices have shown stronger growth than that. Nationwide building society recently reported a 4.7% increase in UK prices in the 12 months to December, and on Wednesday the Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of growth stood at 3.3% in November.

The ONS figures showed a 0.4% fall over the month, which some commentators said could reflect buyer hesitation as a result of economic uncertainty.

Karen Noye, mortgage expert at wealth management company Quilter, said: “This uncertainty will be compounded by the recent turmoil in the bond markets putting upward pressure on mortgage rates.

“This dynamic is likely tempering demand, particularly among first-time buyers already stretched by rising living costs and tighter lending criteria.”

Mortgage rates have fluctuated over the past few months as the money markets have reacted to conflicting economic data.

Noye said the anticipated Bank of England base rate cuts would “provide some relief to borrowers, but the extent of this impact will depend on how the Bank of England responds to the ongoing bond market volatility”.

In the short term, in England and Northern Ireland buyers are faced with changes to stamp duty thresholds at the start of April, which could mean some are attempting to bring forward plans to move.

The latest snapshot of the market from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) showed an upward tread in sales in December, with estate agents reporting a increase in both new buyer inquiries and homes coming onto the market.

It said the bounce in supply was “potentially due to stamp duty changes”.

House prices were now rising in every region of the UK, Rics added, with Northern Ireland and Scotland reporting the strongest price growth.

Rightmove said it expected asking prices to go up by 4% this year, and that the number of sales would rise to 1.15m.

Rightmove’s chief data officer, Steve Pimblett, said: “Agents tell us that good quality homes in popular areas have continued to attract buyer interest, even in the slower periods of the market since mortgage rates went up.

“We predict that this year will be busier for the market in terms of price increases and sales, particularly if mortgage rates reduce.”