House prices dropped by 0.3 per cent in Allerdale in April, new figures show.
But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 5.4 per cent over the last year.
An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.
The need for larger deposits and constraints on accessing mortgages have pushed homeownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite Government figures showing 50 per cent of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.
In a recent major speech in Blackpool, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a comprehensive review of the mortgage market would take place in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.
The average Allerdale house price in April was £178,561, Land Registry figures show – a 0.3 per cent decrease on March.
Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North West, where prices increased two per cent, and Allerdale was lower than the 1.1 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Allerdale rose by £9,100 – putting the area 36th among the North West’s 39 local authorities with price data for annual growth.
The highest annual growth in the region was in Burnley, where property prices increased on average by 18.6 per cent, to £119,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Pendle gained just 2.7 per cent in value, giving an average price of £125,000.
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Allerdale spent an average of £154,000 on their property – £7,600 more than a year ago, and £30,700 more than in April 2017.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £199,600 on average in April – 29.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.
Property types
Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Allerdale in April – they dropped 0.5 per cent in price, to £107,306 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 1.7 per cent.
Among other types of property:
- Detached: down 0.4% monthly; up 6.9% annually; £271,875 average
- Semi-detached: down 0.3% monthly; up 6% annually; £175,199 average
- Terraced: down 0.3% monthly; up 3.9% annually; £142,542 average
How do property prices in Allerdale compare?
Buyers paid 14.5 per cent less than the average price in the North West (£209,000) in April for a property in Allerdale. Across the North West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.
The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £347,000 on average, and 1.9 times as much as more than in Allerdale. Trafford properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Burnley (£119,000 average), at the other end of the scale.
The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.
