New year boost for South Tyneside home owners

House prices increased in the borough in January, according to new Land Registry figures – contributing to the longer-term trend, which has seen property values in the area achieve 9.9% annual growth.

The average South Tyneside house price in January was £146,820 – a 3.9% increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the North East, where prices decreased 1.3%, and the market in South Tyneside also outperformed the 0.5% drop nationally.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Tyneside rose by £13,000 – putting the area third among the North East’s 13 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Northumberland, where property prices increased on average by 13.7%, to £173,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Hartlepool lost 2.5% of their value, giving an average price of £108,000.

Owners of semi-detached houses in South Tyneside saw the biggest value rises in in January – increasing by 4.3% on the month to an average of £164,172 Over the last year, prices rose by 10.6%.

The cost of a detached home rose by 3.7% monthly – 11% annually – to an average of £270,919.

The price for a terraced home went up by 4% on the month – 10.7% annually - to an average of £129,180.

Flats prices also rose – up by 3% on December and 5.3% annually to an average of £86,641.

First-time buyers in South Tyneside spent an average of £131,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £24,000 more than in December 2015.

Buyers in the borough paid 6.3% more than the average house price in the North East – £138,000 - in January but, regional property prices remain comparatively low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £249,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in North Tyneside – £178,000 on average.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average January sale price was £1.3m.