House prices take August hit in Sunderland

House prices fell in Sunderland during August

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.