Flats outperform the sector

The average price of a flat sold has risen from £50,355 in 1992 (Quarter 3) to £125,587 in the third quarter of 2002: an increase of 149%. This compares with an increase of 112% for all properties.

The Halifax research also shows that terraces have seen the next largest rise with a 120% gain since 1992. Despite increasing more slowly than flats and terraces, the average prices of semi-detached and detached houses and bungalows have all more than doubled in the last 10 years, rising by between 102% (detached) and 106% (semi-detached and bungalows).

Flats have recorded the largest percentage increase in price in each region on the British mainland over the last ten years with the exception of East Anglia where semi-detached homes have seen the biggest gains. In all four regions of southern England - London, the South East, the South West and East Anglia - detached properties have witnessed the smallest percentage gains since the third quarter of 1992.