Based on Halifax's own house price data, owners of detached properties have seen the value of their home increase by £91 a day over the past year with the average price rising by 13% from £266,060 in 2009 Quarter 2 to £299,295 in 2010 Quarter 2. Prices for all other property types rose by 8-9% over the period.
Semi-detached homeowners are the biggest property winners over the past decade. Semi-detached properties recorded the largest average price increase (111%) since 2000; marginally higher than for terraced properties (110%) and bungalows (109%). Flats were the only property type not to double in value over the last ten years with an 81% average increase.
Semi-detached and terraced homes have remained the most popular types of property purchased over the last ten years. These property types combined accounted for 61% of all home sales in 2010; up from 58% in 2000.
Suren Thiru, Halifax housing economist, said: "Although the price of all property types has been boosted by the combination of historically low interest rates and lack of properties available for sale over the past year, it is notable that detached homes have seen the largest average price rises.
“Such properties are likely to have benefited from greater demand from those buyer groups currently most able to enter the housing market.
"The changing pattern of homes bought over the past decade highlights some significant socio-economic forces. For example, the rise in the proportion of sales of flats and terraced homes reflects the increasing trend for people to live alone."
The average price of a detached property is currently 63% above the average UK house price. Terraced properties remain the least expensive property type with an average price that is 17% below the average for all properties.
The gap between most expensive property types (detached homes) and the least (terraced homes) has narrowed over the past decade from 106% to 98%.
However, moving up the property ladder has become harder over the past three years as the gap between the least and most expensive property types has risen from 71% in 2007 to 98% in 2010. The average price of terraces fell more during the downturn and has risen by less during the recent recovery.
