Manchester has seen the sharpest increase in house prices of any local authority in England and Wales since the turn of the millennium, according to a study by consumer finance guide Låneguiden.se.
The average house price in Manchester stood at £41,071 in June 2000 and had reached £251,250 by June 2026, a nominal change of 511.7%. Once adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the real change came to 213.0%.
Other Greater Manchester boroughs also featured prominently. Salford ranked second nationally with a nominal change of 449.8%, while Bury, Trafford and Tameside all appeared in the top ten local authorities for growth since 2000.
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Låneguiden.se said its analysis drew on HM Land Registry UK House Price Index figures, setting average prices for each local authority in England and Wales against one another at two points 26 years apart, with the resulting nominal change also deflated by CPI to produce a real change figure. Only local authorities recording at least 1,000 residential transactions in both 2000 and 2025 were included in the rankings.
Across the UK as a whole, the average house price rose by 231.1% over the period, equating to a real change of 69.4% once inflation was taken into account. Regionally, the North West recorded the greatest increase, with a nominal change of 342.1% and a real change of 126.2%, followed by Wales, up 321.3% nominally, and Yorkshire and The Humber, up 312.1% nominally.
At local authority level, Surrey Heath recorded the lowest increase in England and Wales, with prices up 178.3% in nominal terms and 42.4% in real terms.
Jakob Thorselius, editor of Låneguiden.se, said: “Every local authority area experienced a nominal and real increase in house prices in the last 26 years.” He added: “This somewhat turns the assumption on its head that the North is more affordable.”