These have been the UK cities most and least affected by COVID-19 in terms of the property market.

Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, some property markets benefited greatly.

The specialist mortgage platform Haysto has carried out a study of property sales to reveal which cities in the United Kingdom were the most and least affected by COVID.

2020 was a record year for property prices, with an average price increasing by more than £ 16,000 compared to the previous year. In October, mortgage approvals had reached a 13-year high and 124,800 transactions were completed in November, 18,000 more than the five-year average.

Haysto analyzed the latest government data to see which cities had the highest and lowest property purchase rate in 2020 and which areas saw the largest increase or decrease compared to 2019.

Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire recorded the highest number of property purchases in 2020 at over 400 per capita. Properties in Huntingdon were, on average, nearly £ 10,000 cheaper compared to the regional average in Cambridgeshire during 2020.

Pontefract followed in second place, with more than 328 property sales per capita. This rise in property prices could be due to lower house prices compared to 2019. It was revealed that overall, sales prices in Pontefract over the last year were down 3%.

Great Yarmouth (320.1), Preston (319.7), and Chichester (319.7) round out the top five cities with the highest number of property purchases per capita in 2020.

At the other end of the scale, Portsmouth had the fewest property sales, at just 50.9 per capita. Despite having a population of nearly a quarter of a million, only 1,267 properties were sold over the course of the year.

Haysto also points to a recent study that found the city to be the second-worst city in England for municipal housing quality, with 38% failing to meet the Decent Housing Standard at the end of March 2020.

Wirral (55.7), Luton (72), Watford (73.7), and Birmingham (75) round out the last three cities with the lowest number of property sales per capita in 2020.

Salford saw the biggest change, dropping 68.5%, the biggest year-over-year decline in the rest of the nation. The area saw sales drop from 3,325 in 2019 to just 1,049 in 2020. It is followed by Basingstoke with a 51% drop in sales in 2020 with just 1,273 sales completed last year.

Cardiff is the only Welsh city to rank in the top five cities for property sales hardest hit by COVID-19, with a 51.1% drop in sales compared to 2019, according to the research.

Although Guildford (29%), Maidstone (29.3%), and Gateshead (30.5%) were considered less affected by their property sales, they still experienced a 30% decrease compared to their 2019 sales, which shows the effect that COVID-19 has had throughout the Nation.

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