Wirral house prices increased in January

House prices increased by 2.4% in Wirral in January, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 7.8% annual growth.

The average Wirral house price in January was £194,995, Land Registry figures show – a 2.4% increase on December.

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

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wirral rose by £14,000 – putting the area 31st 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 flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Wirral in January – they increased 3%, to £117,370 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 5.4%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.8% monthly; up 10.3% annually; £337,692 averageSemi-detached: up 2.4% monthly; up 8% annually; £217,855 averageTerraced: up 2.5% monthly; up 7.2% annually; £147,269 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Wirral spent an average of £164,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £38,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £225,000 on average in January – 37.5% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Wirral compare?

Buyers paid 2.4% less than the average price in the North West (£200,000) in January for a property in Wirral. 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 1.8 times as much as more than in Wirral. 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

Wirral: £194,995The North West:£199,791UK: £273,762

Annual growth to January

Wirral: +7.8%The North West: +9.6%UK: +9.6%

Best and worst annual growth in the North West

Tameside: +19.1%Allerdale: +2.5%