£5,000 boost for Sunderland home owners

The Office for National Statistics data shows the median house price hit £130,000 in the city in the year to June – an annual increase of £5,000 – and the figures also reveal the most expensive areas in the city.

The areas in Sunderland which recorded the highest average house prices in the year to June were:

*Seaburn: £237,000 – up from £165,000 in 2019-20

*Harraton, Rickleton and Fatfield: £225,000 – up from £191,000

*Hill View and Tunstall: £195,000 – an increase from £176,000

*Herrington and Doxford: £190,000 – falling from £207,000

*Fulwell: £179,000 – up from £169,000

By contrast, the area recording the lowest average house price was Millfield, where homes sold for around £65,000 in 2020-21.

The figures also show the number of homes sold in Sunderland rose year-on-year, from 2,906 to 2,974.

The largest proportion were in Hill View and Tunstall, where 191 homes changed hands in the period.

Nationally, residential property sales increased by 10% to 761,067.

Martin Beck, chief economic adviser of economic forecasting group EY Item Club, said home owners should not bank on these increases continuing into 2022.

He said: “The prospect of a series of interest rate rises by the Bank of England will translate into higher mortgage rates.

“Cost of living pressures faced by households from rising inflation and taxes will mean fewer people will be able to afford to borrow the necessary amount they need to buy at higher mortgage rates.”