This is what the pandemic has done to house prices in Sunderland

The ​boost ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 5.8% annual growth​.

The average Sunderland house price in March was £121,212, Land Registry figures show​ – a 3.2% increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was ​better than that across the North East, where prices ​decreased 0.6%​, and Sunderland outperformed the 0.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Sunderland ​​rose by £6,600 – putting the ​area third among the North East’s 12 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Middlesbrough, where properties increased on average by 10.1%, to £119,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in County Durham dropped 1.2% in value, giving an average price of £96,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Sunderland in March – they increased 4.2%, to £224,135 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 6.5%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 3.1% monthly; up 5.9% annually; £125,275 average

Terraced: up 2.9% monthly; up 5.7% annually; £98,278 average

Flats: up 2.9% monthly; up 3.4% annually; £78,233 average

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First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Sunderland spent an average of £​105,700 on their property – ​£5,700 more than a year ago, ​and ​£11,400 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​136,300 on average in March​ – 29.0% more than first-time buyers.

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How do property prices in Sunderland compare?

​Buyers paid 4.5% less than the average price in the North East (£127,000) in March for a property in Sunderland. Across the North East, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in North Tyneside – £160,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Sunderland. North Tyneside properties cost 1.7 times as much as homes in County Durham (£96,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £86,000).

Factfile

Average property price in March

Sunderland: £121,212

The North East: £126,945

UK: £231,855

Annual growth to March

Sunderland: +5.8%

The North East: +1.8%

UK: +2.1%

Best and worst annual growth in the North East

Middlesbrough: +10.1%

County Durham: -1.2%