Wigan identified as property hotspot in study

Paisley in central Scotland topped the list, with asking prices there surging by 15 per cent over the past year.

Lancaster and Wigan both came next, with a 12 per cent increase.

London was excluded from the main research but the strongest growth in the capital was in West Norwood, which also saw a 12 per cent rise.

Experienced borough estate agents said the strength of the market locally was unprecedented.

Rightmove said suburban areas across the North West close to Liverpool and Manchester had seen prices go up throughout 2020.

Joel Edgerton, director at Regan and Hallworth in Wigan, said: “Wigan has undoubtedly seen huge price growth, especially towards the end of last year when the market was absolutely booming.

"I’ve been an estate agent in Wigan – the land of the pies – for 23 years and it was probably the busiest six months I’ve ever known the market to be.”

“The town has really remodelled its image of late and the council has tried to rebrand the town with a more modern feel, but we’re still a dead friendly town and a proper northern town in that respect.”

Estate agents also suggested access to green spaces and nature may have helped contribute to the price surges as these have become more important to home movers during lockdown.

All of the top 10 price hotspots outside London have average asking prices that are cheaper than the average across Britain, which is £318,580.

The average house price in Wigan is £175,202, the study found.

Rightmove’s director of property data Tim Bannister said: "It’s interesting that places in the North West are continuing to perform really strongly.

"A recent study of ours found that the biggest ‘winners’ for property prices for all of 2020 were suburban areas in the North West, especially towns near Liverpool and Manchester, and this latest research illustrates that this trend is very much still alive.”

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