Welsh seaside town saw prices rise 134%

House prices in the North Wales town of Porthmadog  have skyrocketed 134%  over the  last decade - the fastest rise of  any seaside town in Wales and  England.

The annual Halifax Seaside Town Review tracks house price movements in 136 seaside 

towns in England and Wales.

The average cost of a home in  the Gwynedd town is £162,638 -  in 2003 it was around £54,000, 

 The figures, released by Halifax  show Porthmadog top the poll ahead of  Seaham and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea which  came in  second and third places respectively. 

Both these coastal towns  are in the North East and have  seen house prices more than  double over the last decade.

The only seaside towns in the  south of England to make it on  to the “top 10” fastest rising  house prices list were St Mawes  and Perranporth, which are  both in Cornwall.

The coastal towns at the top  of the list tend to have seen  prices rising sharply from a relatively low base.

Asking price record tumbles

• The national average asking price record has tumbled, almost breaking the £250,000 Mark, according to the Rightmove House Price Index. 
• It was a South-led price surge as London, South East and East Anglia hit all-time highs.
• In London Camden led the 3.3% price surge with prices up 7.2%, going past the £1m mark. 
• Buyers in the capital were facing new sellers’ average asking prices in excess of £500,000 for the first time. 
• The typical property in the capital is now more than twice as expensive as the national average.
• The national average asking price stands at £249,841, as new sellers raise prices by 2.1% (+£5,135) this month. This is the fifth consecutive monthly rise leaves prices 9.1% (+£20,852) higher year-to-date, the strongest price start to a year since 2004
• East Anglia saw 4% increases to an average asking price of £233,000, while the South East was up 1.8%.
• The North saw price rises of 4.2%, while in Wales prices were up 1%. The North West was up 1.7%, Yorkshire and Humberside and the East Midlands 1.2%, West Midlands 0.2% and and the South West 0.6%.
• Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst comments: “The tumbling of records is being driven by the equity-rich generation with a definite southern bias, though agents in most parts of the country are reporting strong demand for well-priced and decent-quality stock. Despite a new national record, it’s not ‘green-shoots of recovery’ across the board, especially for the deposit-strapped mass-market. They must wait patiently until January when the Help to Buy scheme extends to the resale market, unless new homes developers can increase building dramatically this year.”