Sefton house prices dropped slightly in October

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.2%, in Sefton in October, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 1.4% over the last year.

The average Sefton house price in October was £215,746, Land Registry figures show – a 0.2% decrease on September.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the North West, where prices decreased 0.4%, and Sefton was above the 0.7% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Sefton rose by £3,100 – putting the area 10th among the North West’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in St Helens, where property prices increased on average by 5.5%, to £185,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Tameside lost 4.6% of their value, giving an average price of £204,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Sefton spent an average of £174,100 on their property – £2,200 more than a year ago, and £39,600 more than in October 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £244,700 on average in October – 40.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in Sefton in October – they dropped 0.6% in price, to £121,358 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 0.5%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: up 0.2% monthly; up 3.3% annually; £389,364 average
• Semi-detached: down 0.2% monthly; up 1.8% annually; £233,755 average
• Terraced: down 0.2% monthly; up 0.9% annually; £165,110 average

How do property prices in Sefton compare?

Buyers paid roughly the same as the average price in the North West (£216,000) in October for a property in Sefton. Across the North West, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £288,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £375,000 on average, and 1.7 times the price as in Sefton. Trafford properties cost 3.3 times the price as homes in Burnley (£114,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.4 million.

Factfile

Average property price in October

• Sefton: £215,746
• The North West:£215,719
• UK: £287,782

Annual change to October

• Sefton: +1.4%
• The North West: -0.4%
• UK: -1.2%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the North West

• St Helens: +5.5%
• Tameside: -4.6%