The average house price rose 4.6 per cent last year, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

In means the typical home in Britain was worth £268,000 as of December 2024. 

But the official ONS house price rise may not be the case where you live, as local property markets can perform very differently.

Estate agent Hamptons has crunched the ONS data and revealed that areas in Scotland, the North of England and the Midlands are among the hottest property markets in the UK when it comes to house price growth over the past year.

Conversely, areas in London, the South East and South West are among the 10 worst performing markets with prices falling by close to 10 per cent in some cases.

The analysis did not include areas of Northern Ireland, although it is safe to say prices there are going through somewhat of a boom.

The average house price for Northern Ireland was £183,000 in the final three months of 2024, up 9 per cent year-on-year.

The data also excludes the Shetland Isles and City of London due to the low volume of sales in both local authorities, which makes their average prices volatile. 

If they were to be included, they would have been top and bottom respectively, with price growth of 10.9 per cent last year in the Shetland Isles and 10.9 per cent falls in the City of London.

Away from Northern Ireland, the Shetland Isles and the City of London, price rises have been more muted.

The best performing local authority is Inverclyde in Scotland, which saw average prices rise by 6.5 per cent last year. 

The coastal area west of Glasgow is one of Scotland's most affordable areas to buy in. It includes the towns of Gourock, Port Glasgow and Greenock. 

The average price in Inverclyde, as of December 2024, was just £106,750.

Eight of the top 10 performing local authorities were in Scotland with West Dunbartonshire the next house price hotspot. The average home there rose 6.4 per cent last year.

The Scottish council is located just north west of Glasgow and borders Loch Lomond. The average home there is worth £121,660, according to the latest ONS figures.

Bassetlaw in the East Midlands saw the greatest house price growth of any English local authority with the average home rising 5.8 per cent in 2024.

Bassetlaw is located east of Sheffield. Its notable towns include Retford and Worksop. The average property in the area is worth £200,690.

The next best performing local authority in England is West Lancashire, where prices rose 5.4 per cent on average last year.

Located just north of Liverpool, homes in West Lancashire fetch £227,210 on average.

Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of Garrington Property Finders says: 'Prices are rising fastest in areas offering great value. In part, this is due to price-conscious buyers broadening their search to include areas where they will get the most bang for their buck. 

'But it's also evidence of just how many renters are being spurred into buying their first home. 

'With rents rising rapidly and mortgage interest rates slowly coming down, increasing numbers of would-be buyers are reaching the tipping point where owning a home and paying a mortgage becomes cheaper than renting. 

'The resulting surge in demand is pushing up prices sharply and widening the north-south divide - with homes in northern England posting strong rates of price growth compared to the more modest gains seen in the south.'

Unsurprisingly, local authorities in London and the south of England, where prices are most expensive, are among the worst 10 performing locations.

Kensington and Chelsea saw average prices fall by 9.3 per cent last year, according to the ONS data.

Given that the average property is now worth £1,339,540, this represents a fall of £136,570 over a 12 month period.

It's a similar story in the City of Westminster. Prices there fell by just over £100,000 last year. The average property is now selling for £1,048,330, according to the ONS data.

Away from London, Dover was the worst performing local authority last year. The average property there fell by 7 per cent on average, finishing the year at £282,410.

Stuart Bailey, head of London super prime sales at Knight Frank says that some wealthy central London property owners are choosing to sell in order to put their money to better use in other asset classes that will give them a greater return.

'Some people are prepared to take a 10 per cent loss in order to go elsewhere for a better investment,' says Bailey.

'For those who bought London property as long-term investments, if they are no longer seeing the capital growth or the yields they want, then they'll trade out of it.'

However, he feels central London prices can't really get any lower with values in some areas still no different or even below what they were more than a decade ago.

'Prices have come down in central parts of London. The last peak was in 2014 and it has been a slow downward trajectory ever since,' adds Bailey.

'But there is a limit on how far prices can fall. While some wealthy property owners and investors are prepared to sell at a loss for in markets like Chelsea and Kensington there are also many who are more than happy to wait it out.

'They tend to be cash rich, they tend to not have too much mortgage debt. They don't need to sell. It's more a question of whether they want to move their cash elsewhere.'

Buying agent Jonathan Hopper believes many of London's most desirable - and expensive - postcodes are still feeling the 'whiplash effect' of the October Budget.

'Average property prices are nudging down, and on the front-line we're seeing buyers ask for - and get - significant discounts off the asking price,' says Hopper.

'While prime London has been desirable for centuries and will remain so, the blowback from the scrapping of the "non-dom" tax regime, which made UK property particularly attractive to wealthy international buyers, continues to reshape both demand and prices at the top end of the market.'