City swears in new mayor

AVERAGE house prices across the North East have gone down, according to new official figures.

We are only region in the country which saw prices fall in the year to March, says the Office for National Statistics.

All other regions saw an increase, though not at the high levels seen in previous years.

Within the region, South Shields recorded the highest drop in prices.

The coastal town tops a list of locations where prices are dropping to more affordable levels

That’s good news for buyers, but bad news for sellers, who are seeing their asking prices do down.

Only one other area in the region – Northumberland – saw prices go down.

Other areas saw increases but the North East average saw prices go down by 0.4%.

All others, apart from a small fall in Newcastle, saw prices continue to rise.

The rises, however, were not at the same level as the past few years when the cost of buying a house soared.

Buyers in North Tyneside had the worst luck, with the region’s biggest increases. Here’s what the figures for the year to March say: The average house price in South Tyneside fell 0.3% in the year to March, down from an average of £119,925 in March 2016 to £119,574. In Northumberland, average prices fell 0.2% to £146,332. North Tyneside had the fastest rising prices, up 4% in the year to March, to an average of £155,392. Prices were down by 0.1% in Newcastle, to an average of £151,456.

Nationally, there was a slowing down of the housing market, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

House prices dipped by 0.6% month-on-month in March. Meanwhile, annual growth in property values slowed to its weakest level since 2013. Within England, the lowest annual house price growth was here in the North East, where prices decreased by an average of 0.4% Richard Snook, a senior economist at PwC, said: “In a reversal of the normal regional pattern, the south of England showed some of the softest growth, with price inflation of 2.8% in the South West, 3.8% in the South Richard Snook East and just 1.5% in London. This is the weakest figure for London since March 2012.

“These figures are consistent with the Brexit-related slowdown that we anticipated last year and our guidance of 2% to 5% growth this year.”

The slowdown was welcomed by some experts.

Sarah Beeny, owner of estate agent Tepilo, said: “The slowdown in house price growth we are seeing is simply due to the fact that house prices cannot continue rising at the rates we have seen over the past few years.

“If the large rises we’ve experienced in recent years continued, the average house price would be almost double what it is now in 10 years’ time, and that’s just not realistic.” THE city of Sunderland officially has a new mayor.

Councillor Doris MacKnight, who has represented the Castle ward since 2014, will hold the ceremonial position for the next year.

She was officially sworn in during a ceremony in Sunderland Civic Centre.

The mayor plays an important civic role in Sunderland, chairing meetings of the full council as well as acting as an ambassador for the city.