Shropshire house prices creep up

The latest data from the Office of National Statistics shows that the average property in the area sold for £211,340 – below the UK average of £231,422.

In Telford & Wrekin prices remained static for July, but have also seen a 4.3 per cent increase over the past year.

The average property in the area sold for £162,095 – significantly lower than the UK average.

In Powys prices leapt by 5.9 per cent in July, playing a part in a 9.6 per cent rise in the last year.

The average property in the area sold for £188,949.

Across the West Midlands, property prices have risen by 4.4 per cent in the last year, to £195,447.

The region outperformed the UK as whole, which saw the average property value increase by 3.1 per cent.

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 Shropshire will have seen their property jump in value by around £34,000 in the last five years.

In Telford & Wrekin the figure is £25,000

The figures also showed that buyers who made their first step onto the property ladder in Shropshire in July spent an average of £170,551 – around £28,000 more than it would have cost them five years ago.

For Telford & Wrekin the average was £132,653 – around £20,000 up on five years ago.

In Powys it was £165,947, an increase of £29,000.

Lawrence Bowles, associate director of the research team at estate agents Savills, said the slowing national house price growth reflected a "stricter lending environment".

"People are also waiting until we have got a clear idea on what Brexit means, before they make a big financial decision like buying a house," he explained.

Mr Bowles said the uncertainty was affecting London the most, as it was the most international city in the UK.

He continued: "We are also starting to see a reverse ripple effect, which originally only hit London but now house prices in the South East and East of England are slowing as well.

"As house prices in London rose out of reach of many buyers, they looked out to the South East and East where they could get more house for their money.

"Now, house price affordability in those regions has also become stretched."

Mr Bowles said this had caused buyers to stop commuting to London, and look further afield.

"The North West was the fastest growing region in July, recording 5.6 per cent house price inflation. That’s driven by strong growth in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool.

"The South West, West Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire, and Scotland also outperformed the UK average."

Between May last year and April this year, the most recent 12 months for which sales volume data is available, 5,535 homes were sold in Shropshire, five per cent more than in the previous year.

In Telford & Wrekin 2,810 homes were sold in Telford and Wrekin, one per cent down on the previous year.

Powys saw a significant eight per cent rise with 1,851 homes sold.

The highest house prices in the country in July were found in Kensington and Chelsea, London, where properties sold for an average of £1.42 million – 17 times the cost of a home in Blaenau Gwent, where the average property cost just £82,298.