House price increase for city homeowners

House prices in Sunderland increased slightly in the final months of last year, new figures show.

The 0.6%, rise in November does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.5% annual decline – the worst in the North East – and brought the average price of a house in the city to £116,393, according to Land Registry figures.

The increase on October was below that across the North East, where prices rose by 2.6%, and the market in Sunderland was also well below the 1.2% rise nationally.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Sunderland remained level – putting the area bottom 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 16.2%, to £177,000.

The owners of detached houses in Sunderland saw the biggest improvement in property prices in November.

Values in creased by 0.7%, to an average of £215,098 – but, over the last year, prices have dropped by 1.7%.

The price of a semi-detached house was up by 0.4% on the month – but down 1.5% annually to an average of £120,279.

The sale price of flats was up by 0.3% on the month – but still down by 5.9% ove the year to an average of £73,041.

First-time buyers in Sunderland spent an average of £101,300 on their property – £2,000 less than a year ago but £7,000 more than in October 2015.