Sandwell house prices dropped in December

House prices dropped by 1.8% in Sandwell in December, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 2.2% annual decline.

The average Sandwell house price in December was £198,357, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across West Midlands, where prices increased 2.6%, and Sandwell was lower than the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Sandwell fell by £4,600 – putting the area 19th among West Midlands’s 30 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Warwick, where property prices increased on average by 6%, to £383,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Stoke lost 6.7% of their value, giving an average price of £134,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Sandwell spent an average of £181,000 on their property – £4,400 less than a year ago, but £44,000 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £218,500 on average in December – 20.7% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Sandwell in December – they dropped 2.1% in price, to £177,439 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 3%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.8% monthly; down 1.7% annually; £326,716 average
• Semi-detached: down 1.5% monthly; down 1.3% annually; £214,811 average
• Flats: down 2% monthly; down 4.1% annually; £106,596 average

How do property prices in Sandwell compare?

Buyers paid 21.5% less than the average price in West Midlands (£253,000) in December for a property in Sandwell. Across West Midlands, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in West Midlands were in Warwick – £383,000 on average, and 1.9 times the price as in Sandwell. Warwick properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Stoke (£134,000 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 December

• Sandwell: £198,357
• West Midlands:£252,532
• UK: £284,691

Annual change to December

• Sandwell: -2.2%
• West Midlands: +0.3%
• UK: -1.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in West Midlands

• Warwick: +6%
• Stoke: -6.7%