St Helens house prices increased in January

House prices increased by 1.2% in St Helens in January, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 14.8% annual growth.

The average St Helens house price in January was £165,204, Land Registry figures show – a 1.2% increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the North West, where prices decreased 0.3%, and St Helens outperformed the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in St Helens rose by £21,000 – putting the area sixth among the North West’s 39 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Tameside, where property prices increased on average by 19.1%, to £200,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Allerdale gained just 2.5% in value, giving an average price of £170,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in St Helens in January – they increased 1.3%, to £126,966 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 13.5%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.8% monthly; up 18% annually; £279,046 averageSemi-detached: up 1.3% monthly; up 15.1% annually; £171,503 averageFlats: up 1.3% monthly; up 8.3% annually; £91,438 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in St Helens spent an average of £148,000 on their property – £19,000 more than a year ago, and £38,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £186,000 on average in January – 25.7% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in St Helens compare?

Buyers paid 17.3% less than the average price in the North West (£200,000) in January for a property in St Helens. Across the North West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £274,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £347,000 on average, and 2.1 times as much as more than in St Helens. Trafford properties cost 3.1 times as much as homes in Burnley (£110,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in January

St Helens: £165,204The North West:£199,791UK: £273,762

Annual growth to January

St Helens: +14.8%The North West: +9.6%UK: +9.6%

Best and worst annual growth in the North West

Tameside: +19.1%Allerdale: +2.5%