IN the current economic climate, buying a home for most people can be a massive task.

With house prices soaring over the last few decades, on average property prices are around four times as much as 20 years ago.

New research compiled by Plumbnation looked at the average property price data from towns and cities across the UK from 2022 all the way back to 2002.

They then ranked the property prices per city and town based on the difference as a percentage to reveal which cities and towns could be goldmines if you bought them 20 years back.

Their findings show the East Lancashire town of Burnley has seen the ninth largest increase in property prices over the last 20 years in the U.K, while other Lancashire areas - Blackpool and Preston - have seen some of the lowest.

Data shows the average cost of a home in Burnley in 2002 was around £33,000, whereas now, that same home could set you back £110,000, an increase of 233 per cent.

Manchester and Salford have seen the highest levels of growth, followed by Leicester and Hull.

The nine UK towns/cities with the largest increase in property price are:

  1. Manchester; £210,647- (average price in 2022); £48,845 (average price in 2002); 331.26 per cent (percentage growth)
  2. Salford; £197,047; £50,567; 289.7 per cent
  3. Leicester; £220,058; £61,232; 259.4 per cent
  4. Kingston Upon Hull; £125,726; £36,847; 241.2 per cent
  5. Bristol; £333,058; £97,875; 240.3 per cent
  6. Stoke-on-Trent; £136,563; £40,489; 237.3 per cent
  7. Sheffield; £199,058; £59,604; 234 per cent
  8. Liverpool; £168,768; £50,539; 233.9 per cent
  9. Burnley; £110,630; £33,210; 233.1 per cent

 

The UK towns/cities with the lowest increase in property prices between 2002 and 2022 are:

  1. Reading; £315,483 (price in 2022); £134,404 (price in 2002); 134.7 per cent
  2. Blackpool; £127,987; £51,676; 147.7 per cent
  3. Worcester; £238,742; £96,322; 147.9 per cent
  4. Southampton; £239,425; £96,505; 148.1 per cent
  5. Durham; £120,612; £48,138; 150.6 per cent
  6. Newcastle; £185,610; £72,899; 154.6 per cent
  7. Portsmouth; £234,575; £91,095; 157.5 per cent
  8. Preston; £146,889; £55,671; 163.9 per cent
  9. Sunderland; £137,266; £51,801; 165 per cent
  10. Chester; £242,17;0 £90,512; 167.6 per cent

 

Coming in as the lowest price increase for properties in the last two decades is Reading, with just a 134.73 per cent increase - two and a half times worse than Manchester.

Meanwhile, Blackpool saw an increase of just 147.67 per cent, which again is comparatively low. It is interesting to note, that in Blackpool, the average property price now is still lower than Reading's was in 2002.

The full research can be found here.