Housing market stagnates

House prices in Warwickshire remained unchanged in October, despite witnessing a 4.2 per cent rise over the last 12 months.
House prices remain unchanged in October - the latest available dataHouse prices remain unchanged in October - the latest available data
House prices remain unchanged in October - the latest available data

The latest data from the Office of National Statistics shows that the average property in the area sold for £253,371 – above the UK average of £231,095.

Across the West Midlands, property prices have risen by 3.8 per cent in the last year, to £196,073. The region outperformed the UK as whole, which saw the average property value increase by 2.7 per cent.

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The data comes from the House Price Index, which the ONS compiles using house sale information from the Land Registry, and the equivalent bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The average homeowner in Warwickshire will have seen their property jump in value by around £65,000 in the last five years.

The figures also showed that buyers who made their first step onto the property ladder in Warwickshire in October spent an average of £204,867 – around £53,000 more than it would have cost them five years ago.

Frances Clacy, research analyst at estate agents Savills, said: “House prices across the UK increased by an average of 2.7 per cent in the 12 months to October 2018, according to the latest ONS house price index. "This annual growth figure represents a slow down when compared to last month.

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"We are continuing to see house price growth slow because of the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s negotiations for leaving the EU, as well as tighter lending criteria and increases to mortgage regulation which mean it’s harder for buyers to borrow against their incomes."

Between September last year and August this year, the most recent 12 months for which sales volume data is available, 10,057 homes were sold in Warwickshire, 3 per cent fewer than in the previous year.

The highest house prices in the country in October were found in London's Kensington and Chelsea, where properties sold for an average of £1.24 million – 15 times the cost of a home in Burnley, where the average property cost just £83,500.