These Yorkshire towns and cities have seen the biggest house price rises in 2020

Leeds saw the biggest growth in the UK, apart from Islington which topped the list.

The Halifax report said: “Outside the capital, the great northern city of Leeds has seen the second greatest increase of 11.3 per cent (£25,024) in average house prices this year, edging past the regional average of 9 per cent across Yorkshire and Humberside.”

Russell Galley, Halifax managing director, said: “House prices have leapt by more than 11 per cent in Yorkshire’s great cosmopolitan city of Leeds and almost 10 per cent in Wolverhampton at the heart of the Black Country.

“Further North, Doncaster and Inverness have also seen healthy growth and whilst the overall house price trend this year has been upward, anyone looking to buy in Paisley, Hackney, or Aberdeen will find homes cost a little bit less than last year.”

Doncaster saw house price growth of 8.8 per cent, but Yorkshire prices were lowered by modest growth in other areas of the county. Halifax saw growth of just 1.6 per cent and house prices rose by just 1.7 per cent in Bradford.

Barnsley saw growth of 3.6 per cent, well below the Yorkshire average of 9 per cent.

Mr Galley said: “Much like many other things about 2020, it would have been hard to predict which areas would see the greatest movement in average house prices this year.

“For example, depending on the borough, you could be looking at the biggest price rise or the biggest falls in the capital.”

He said the news will be most welcome for would-be house sellers living in parts of London as well as Yorkshire, the West Midlands and northern Scotland – the areas with the biggest percentage increases over the past 12 months.

In London’s trendy Islington district, the average property price jumped 13.4 per cent (£85,918) this year, more than double the average percentage growth in the Greater London area (6 per cent) with an average sale price of £727,922. This was followed by Croydon which has enjoyed a 10.9 per cent increase (£39,117).

Halifax said there is potential good news for buyers and sellers in Yorkshire, London and Scotland, with all three areas appearing more than once on the lists of areas with the greatest and smallest house price growth.

Greater London takes nine of the top 20 places for house price rises in the year.

Islington took first place for growth in 2020, followed by Leeds, Croydon, Wolverhampton and Hownslow. Doncaster was in sixth place, followed by Inverness, Bournemouth, Watford and Romford.

Only six areas saw house prices falling - Paisley, Hackney, Aberdeen, Falkirk, Merton and Greenwich.

Just a few miles west of Glasgow, Paisley has seen house prices fall 1.7 per cent (£2,448).

Hackney in Greater London saw prices fall 1.5 per cent (£9,843), Aberdeen prices were down 1.4 per cent (£2,761) and Falkirk prices fell 0.8 per cent (£1,484).

Merton and Greenwich – in Greater London – sit in fifth and sixth place on the list, with dips of 0.6 per cent (£3,385) and 0.2 per cent (£899) respectively.

Inverness in the Scottish Highlands was Scotland’s biggest house price winner this year.