Detached houses gain £91 a day

The average detached family home has increased in value by £91 a day over the past year, more than any other type of property, according to Halifax.

Halifax house price data revealed that detached property prices have increased by 13% in the last year, from £266,060 in Q2 2009 to £299,295 in Q2 2010.

This compares to an average price growth of 9% for bungalows and flats, and 8% for semi-detached and terraced properties over the same period.

Halifax figures showed that the average detached property is currently 63% above the average UK house price, while terraced housing is the least expensive property type at 17% below the average.

Over the past decade, semi-detached homes have proved the biggest winners, recording an average price increase of 111% since 2000. This is marginally up on terraced properties at 110% and bungalows at 109%.

Detached properties showed a 102% growth, while flats were the only property type not to double in price, with an average increase of 81%. The increase in semi-detached and terraced housing prices reflects their popularity, accounting for a combined total of 61% of all home sales in 2010, up from 58% in 2000.

The proportion of property sales accounted for by detached properties fell from 21% in 2000 to 15% in 2010.

Suren Thiru, Halifax housing economist, said:

"Although the price of all property types has been boosted by the combination of historically low interest rates and lack of properties available for sale over the past year, it is notable that detached homes have seen the largest average price rises.

"Such properties are likely to have benefited from greater demand from those buyer groups currently most able to enter the housing market.

"The changing pattern of homes bought over the past decade highlights some significant socio-economic forces. For example, the rise in the proportion of sales of flats and terraced homes reflects the increasing trend for people to live alone."

Nevertheless, moving up the property ladder has never been harder with the gap between the least and most expensive property types rising from 71% in 2007 to 98% in 2010.

Yet homeowners wanting to trade down later in life have seen their potential cash windfall almost double over the past decade. Trading down from a detached home to a bungalow would earn an average windfall of £102,000 in 2010; an increase of 91% (£48,500) since 2000.