House prices take August hit in Sunderland

​The ​4.1% drop ​on the figures in July contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​fall by 0.9% over the year.

The average housed price in the city in August was £113,739, according to Land Registry figures.

Over the month, the picture was ​worse than that across the rest of the North East, where prices ​remained static​ with an average sale price of £131,701.

Nationally house prices rose by 0.7% in August.

The fall comes despite the Government raising the threshold on which Stamp Duty is paid from £125,000 to £500,000.

This emergency measure is due to run until march in a bid to support the housing market – which effectively ground to a halt in the early days of the coronavirus crisis.

The best annual growth in the region was seen in in Redcar and Cleveland, where properties increased on average by 6.5%, to £127,000.

​At the other end of the scale, properties in Hartlepool dropped 3.4% in value, giving an average price of £105,000.

Owners of flats fared worst in Sunderland in August. Prices dropped by 4.6% to an average of £72,143​. Over the last year, prices dropped by 4.4%.

Prices of detached homes were down 4.4% on the month to an average of £207,589 – down 0.3% annually.

The average price of a semi-detached fell by 3.9% monthly – 0.2% annually to £118,132.

Terraced home prices fell by four per cent on the month to an average of £92,623 – down 1.3% annually.

First-time buyers in Sunderland spent an average of £​99,200 on their property – ​£1,000 less than a year ago, ​but ​£2,700 more than in August 2015.

​Nationally, the average cost of a home rose to £239,000.

The most expensive average property prices in the North East were in North Tyneside – £168,000.

The highest property prices in the country were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average August sale price was £1.4.