Wirral house prices dropped slightly in April
House prices dropped slightly, by 1%, in Wirral 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 6.8% over the last year.
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Hide AdAn 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% 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 Wirral house price in April was £195,860, Land Registry figures show – a 1% decrease on March.
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Hide AdOver the month, the picture was different to that across the North West, where prices increased 2%, and Wirral was lower than the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wirral rose by £13,000 – putting the area 35th 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%, to £119,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Pendle gained just 2.7% in value, giving an average price of £125,000.
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Wirral spent an average of £164,700 on their property – £9,900 more than a year ago, and £37,800 more than in April 2017.
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Hide AdBy comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £225,400 on average in April – 36.8% more than first-time buyers.
Property types
Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Wirral in April – they dropped 1.4% in price, to £116,629 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 3.3%.
Among other types of property:
Detached: down 0.7% monthly; up 9% annually; £337,851 averageSemi-detached: down 1% monthly; up 7.5% annually; £219,137 averageTerraced: down 0.9% monthly; up 6.1% annually; £148,595 average
How do property prices in Wirral compare?
Buyers paid 6.2% less than the average price in the North West (£209,000) in April for a property in Wirral. Across the North West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.
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Hide AdThe most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £347,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as more than in Wirral. 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.
Factfile
Average property price in April
Wirral: £195,860The North West:£208,867UK: £281,161
Annual growth to April
Wirral: +6.8%The North West: +13.3%UK: +12.4%
Highest and lowest annual growth in the North West
Burnley: +18.6%Pendle: +2.7%