Wales and the East Midlands recorded the fastest house price growth in 2017, experiencing price rises of 8% over the year.

This compares to a 3.3% increase in average UK prices in 2017, or £7,091, said Halifax, a figure that masks wide regional differences.

Strong house price gains were also posted in the West Midlands (+5.0%) and the South West (+4.9%).

But at the other end of the scale, London experienced its slowest annual rise in property prices since 2011 (+1.0% in 2017).

House prices were broadly flat in Scotland, while Northern Ireland experienced a 5.6% fall in house prices in 2017.

Tim Moore, associate director at IHS Markit said: “Brexit-related uncertainty also appears to have kept a lid on property prices in London, with the capital experiencing its slowest annual inflation since 2011.

“The regional breakdown of Halifax HPI data shows that areas with lower house price earnings ratios and improving labour markets continue to outperform the national picture. Reflecting this, the East Midlands and Wales saw the strongest house price gains in 2017, closely followed by the West Midlands.”

Long-term view

The regional divergences are just as strong when you look at house price levels compared to 10 years ago, said Halifax. Since 2007, before the credit crunch, London house prices are up a massive 45% and the South East has seen a 32% rise.

However, property prices in four UK regions remain below levels seen a decade ago. Northern Ireland house prices are the furthest behind the high watermark seen in 2007 (-43%), followed by the North of England (-5%), Scotland (-3%) and Wales (-1%).