Solihull house prices dropped in April

House prices dropped by 1.1% in Solihull in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 6.5% over the last year.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

The need for larger deposits and constraints on accessing mortgages have pushed homeownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite Government figures showing 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

In a recent major speech in Blackpool, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a “comprehensive review” of the mortgage market would take place in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.

The average Solihull house price in April was £320,691, Land Registry figures show – a 1.1% decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across West Midlands, where prices increased 0.5%, and Solihull was lower than the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Solihull rose by £20,000 – putting the area 29th among West Midlands’s 30 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Herefordshire, where property prices increased on average by 18.3%, to £304,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Staffordshire Moorlands gained just 5.5% in value, giving an average price of £217,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Solihull spent an average of £252,000 on their property – £14,000 more than a year ago, and £49,000 more than in April 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £371,000 on average in April – 47.3% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Solihull in April – they dropped 1.3% in price, to £173,754 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.6%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.9% monthly; up 9.1% annually; £562,246 averageSemi-detached: down 1.2% monthly; up 7.2% annually; £327,676 averageTerraced: down 1.1% monthly; up 5% annually; £241,938 average

How do property prices in Solihull compare?

Buyers paid 32.4% more than the average price in West Midlands (£242,000) in April for a property in Solihull. Across West Midlands, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.

The most expensive properties in West Midlands were in Stratford-on-Avon – £386,000 on average, and 1.2 times as much as more than in Solihull. Stratford-on-Avon properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Stoke (£136,000 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 April

Solihull: £320,691West Midlands:£242,145UK: £281,161

Annual growth to April

Solihull: +6.5%West Midlands: +11.8%UK: +12.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in West Midlands

Herefordshire: +18.3%Staffordshire Moorlands: +5.5%