South Tyneside house prices dropped slightly in March

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.8%, in South Tyneside in March, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 8.3% over the last year.

The average South Tyneside house price in March was £160,940, Land Registry figures show – a 0.8% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North East, where prices decreased 1.6%, and South Tyneside was above the 1.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

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

The highest annual growth in the region was in North Tyneside, where property prices increased on average by 11.4%, to £212,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Sunderland gained 3.3% in value, giving an average price of £139,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in South Tyneside spent an average of £143,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £33,000 more than in March 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £179,000 on average in March – 25.3% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices South Tyneside in March – they dropped 1.3% in price, to £141,473 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 8.4%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: up 0.3% monthly; up 9.7% annually; £306,428 average
• Semi-detached: down 0.5% monthly; up 8.9% annually; £181,081 average
• Flats: down 1% monthly; up 5.9% annually; £91,653 average

How do property prices in South Tyneside compare?

Buyers paid 2.6% more than the average price in the North East (£157,000) in March for a property in South Tyneside. Across the North East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in North Tyneside – £212,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as more than in South Tyneside. North Tyneside properties cost 1.6 times as much as homes in County Durham (£129,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in E09000020.

Factfile

Average property price in March

• South Tyneside: £160,940
• The North East:£156,912
• UK: £285,009

Annual growth to March

• South Tyneside: +8.3%
• The North East: +4%
• UK: +4.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the North East

• North Tyneside: +11.4%
• Sunderland: +3.3%