THE total value of the UK's housing stock hit a record high of £7.56 trillion in 2020, analysis has found.
And the figure for Northern Ireland sits at £117 billion - up £4 billion on 2019 - according to Savills.
Despite the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, it marked the strongest growth since 2015.
The value of mortgaged owner-occupied homes passed £2.5 trillion for the first time, and a new 5 per cent deposit mortgage guarantee scheme announced in the March 3 Budget will boost this figure further, Savills said.
A £170 billion increase pushed the total value of mortgaged owner-occupier properties to £2.62 trillion in 2020.
The value of owner-occupied homes with no mortgage was higher still, at £2.88 trillion, with the total value of homes owned outright rising by 5.8 per cent in the year.
Lawrence Bowles, a director in Savills residential research team, said: "People reassessed their housing needs and preferences as a result of the pandemic and that drove a surge in transaction activity in the second half of last year.
"This triggered rapid price growth as many buyers who felt secure in their finances looked for larger homes to accommodate the multiple demands of home working and home schooling, as well as extra space for living and leisure.
"It also meant that the total value of properties held with a mortgage rose by 6.9 per cent as people stretched their borrowing to accommodate lifestyle demands."
The North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together accounted for a record £2.81 trillion in housing value in 2020, Savills said.
Despite that growth, these regions, which together account for 56 per cent of the UK's homes, still only account for 37 per cent of its housing value.
The total value of housing stock in London and the South East increased by £167 billion to £3.19 trillion.
These two regions account for 42 per cent of the total value of housing stock in the UK but only 26 per cent of all homes.
Savills used a range of sources including figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and UK Finance for its research.
