Newcastle house prices dropped slightly in February

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.3%, in Newcastle in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 8.9% annual growth.

The average Newcastle house price in February was £183,710, Land Registry figures show – a 0.3% decrease on January.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the North East, where prices increased 1.2%, and Newcastle underperformed compared to the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Newcastle rose by £15,000 – putting the area seventh among the North East’s 12 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Sunderland, where property prices increased on average by 13.4%, to £140,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gateshead gained just 3.2% in value, giving an average price of £142,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Newcastle in February – they dropped 0.5% in price, to £178,713 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 7.9%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0% monthly; up 15% annually; £370,522 averageSemi-detached: down 0.3% monthly; up 9.9% annually; £213,603 averageFlats: down 0.2% monthly; up 5.2% annually; £120,540 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Newcastle spent an average of £159,000 on their property – £12,000 more than a year ago, and £23,000 more than in February 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £209,000 on average in February – 32% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Newcastle compare?

Buyers paid 20.4% more than the average price in the North East (£153,000) in February for a property in Newcastle. Across the North East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £277,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in Northumberland – £184,000 on average, and 0% more than in Newcastle. Northumberland properties cost 1.5 times as much as homes in County Durham (£123,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in February

Newcastle: £183,710The North East:£152,551UK: £276,755

Annual growth to February

Newcastle: +8.9%The North East: +9.4%UK: +10.9%

Best and worst annual growth in the North East

Sunderland: +13.4%Gateshead: +3.2%