Perth replaces Aberdeen as home of UK’s largest annual house price fall

The data also showed that there were also marginal price decreases in a number of other towns: three in Scotland - Paisley (-3.6 per cent), Dunfermline (-2.2 per cent) and Aberdeen (-1.1 per cent).

Five were recorded in Yorkshire and the Humber – Wakefield (-2.9 per cent), Rotherham (-2.2 per cent), Barnsley (-1.6 per cent), Bradford (-0.4 per cent) and Leeds (-0.4 per cent); one in the West Midlands – Stoke on Trent (-4.0 per cent); Bromley in the South East (-0.6 per cent); Hounslow in Greater London (-0.2 per cent); and Sunderland in the North (-0.2 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham saw the highest percentage rise in house prices of any major UK town or city in 2017.

The Halifax figures show that an annual house price growth of 13 per cent for the spa town was nearly five times the UK average.

The average house price in the town located on the edge of the Cotswolds and famous for its horse racing and cultural festivals, increased from £277,118 to £313,150 in 2017; nearly five times the 2.7 per cent increase in the UK as a whole.

The seaside town of Bournemouth on the south coast experienced the second biggest rise, with an increase of 11.7 per cent, while Brighton, on the south east coast completed the top three with an 11.4 per cent rise in the past year.

Fifteen of the 20 top house price performers are in London and southern England – these include Crawley (10.4 per cent), Newham (10.2 per cent), Peterborough (10.1 per cent), Gloucester (9.5 per cent) and Exeter (9.1 per cent).

Huddersfield (9.3 per cent) in Yorkshire and the Humber, Nottingham (8.9 per cent) and Lincoln (8.4 per cent) in the East Midlands along with Stockport in the North West (8.2 per cent) and Swansea in Wales (7.7 per cent) are the top performers outside London and the South, making the top 20 this year.