"It could be happy days for the homeowners in Manchester where FA Cup victory is guaranteed and, if history repeats itself, positive house price growth could follow"
As the FA Cup final approaches, Barrows and Forrester have looked at the two finalists - Manchester City and Manchester United - and compared them from a property point of view.
City tops table for current affordability
The research shows that City trumps United when it comes to the battle of house price affordability.
The average house in the M11 postcode area, home to the Etihad Stadium, is £178,732, 28% more affordable than Old Trafford’s M16 postcode where the average house costs £248,270.
And when it comes to the wider Local Authority (LA) district prices, City is again more affordable than United.
In the LA district of Trafford, the average price is £360,828 while in the Manchester City LA district, prices are -36% more affordable at £231,656.
However, if City wins this year’s FA Cup, analysis of historic data suggests that the house price gap could be about to shrink.
Winning boost to property values
The research by Barrows and Forrester shows that over the last five years, house prices in locations where teams have won the FA Cup have increased at an average rate of 4% over the following 12 months.
Leicester saw the biggest boost in 2021 when, following the club’s unlikely victory in the final, property prices increased by 10.3% to reach an average of £224,885.
Following Arsenal’s 2020 victory, the average house price in Islington increased by 3.9% to an average of £687,173, while both Liverpool’s victory in 2022 (3.1%) and Manchester City’s in 2019 (2.6%) were also followed by annual local house price growth.
Only Chelsea breaks the trend. Following their 2018 victory, house prices in Stamford Bridge’s borough of Hammersmith & Fulham fell by -1.1%.
Overall, house prices following an FA Cup victory have seen an average increase of 4% in the year that followed. Should house prices increase at the same rate following a Manchester City win this weekend, the next year will see the average price climb to £240,405.
If Manchester United win, a 4% boost would see Trafford’s average price rise to £374,456.
Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:
“Everyone wants the value of their property to increase over time, especially if they’ve got plans to sell in the near future. However, the current market is showing signs that house prices are now starting to cool following the pandemic boom, albeit at a far slower rate than anticipated.
"But it could be happy days for the homeowners in Manchester where FA Cup victory is guaranteed and, if history repeats itself, positive house price growth could follow.”
