Sunderland home owners finish the year in profit

The latest Land Registry figures show house prices rose by 4.4%, in the city in December – adding to the longer-term trend, which has seen property values increase by 7.3%% over the year.

The average price of a house in Sunderland in December was £125,718 – a 4.4% rise on November.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the North East, where prices increased by 1.9%, and Sunderland also easily outperformed the national average rise of 1.2%.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Sunderland rose by £8,600 – putting the area fourth among the North East’s 13 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in County Durham, where property prices increased on average by 10.9%, to £114,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Hartlepool lost 3.8% of their value, giving an average price of £109,000.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Sunderland in December.

Prices increased by 4.6% to an average of £102,749 and, over the year, prices rose by 7.5%.

Owners of detached homes saw their value rise by 4.1% on the monthly – up 9.2% annually to an average of £231,318.

The owners of semi-detached homes saw their value rise by 4.2% on the month – and up 6.9% annually to an average of £129,663.

First-time buyers in Sunderland spent an average of £109,500 on their property – £7,000 more than a year ago, and £13,800 more than in November 2015.

On average, buyers paid 10.9% less than the average price in the North East – £141,000 - in December for a property in the city.

Across the North East, property prices remain low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £252,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in North Tyneside – £176,000 on average.

The highest property prices in the country were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average December sale price of £1.3m.