Northern cities dominate property price growth, data finds

Fahad Redha

February 10, 2026
3 min read

Northern cities dominate property price growth, data finds

Northern cities in the UK are dominating the recent growth in property prices, analysis that compared Land Registry and Hometrack data has found. Belfast has emerged as the strongest performer via both datasets.

Town and city tracker data has shown a clear divide and northern cities appear in the top half of both rankings. Southern and commuter-belt areas meanwhile are often at the other end, especially in figures from Land Registry.

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City performances since 2022 when mortgage rates began to rise sharply, reveals a year-on-year trend. Land Registry data has found that Glasgow, Bradford, Belfast, and Liverpool record double-digit rises since 2022.

Hometrack data meanwhile suggests that there is a slowing of momentum. Other than Belfast, many cities which show strong gains in Land Registry, record only 2-3% growth year-on-year. That suggests that these markets could have already completed most of their recovery.

When compared with general inflation since 2005, the analysis shows that many UK cities fail to outperform inflation over the nearly twenty-year period. South-Eastern markets, as well as London delivered the strongest long-term performance. Meanwhile, Manchester has been identified as a standout city.

Several popular regional markets have not beaten inflation over the two-decade period, including Birmingham, Liverpool, and Newcastle. The recent strength shown by Belfast does not reflect its relatively weaker long-term performance when adjusted for inflation.

Since a peak in 2007/08, Land Registry data has shown that the strongest house price growth come from London, Bristol, and Manchester. Other markets, it found, have not fully recovered from the financial crisis.

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