Manchester house prices dropped in December

House prices dropped by 1.2% in Manchester in December, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 5% annual growth.

The average Manchester house price in December was £211,873, Land Registry figures show – a 1.2% decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the North West, where prices increased 0.6%, and Manchester underperformed compared to the 0.8% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Manchester rose by £10,000 – putting the area 35th among the North West’s 39 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Knowsley, where property prices increased on average by 17.1%, to £166,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Allerdale lost 2.1% of their value, giving an average price of £162,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Manchester in December – they dropped 1.3% in price, to £198,090 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 4.4%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.6% monthly; up 8.7% annually; £393,926 averageSemi-detached: down 1.2% monthly; up 6.5% annually; £265,286 averageFlats: down 1.1% monthly; up 4% annually; £181,389 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Manchester spent an average of £194,400 on their property – £9,000 more than a year ago, and £50,000 more than in December 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £231,800 on average in December – 19.2% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Manchester compare?

Buyers paid 5.8% more than the average price in the North West (£200,000) in December for a property in Manchester. Across the North West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £275,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £342,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as more than in Manchester. Trafford properties cost 3.1 times as much as homes in Burnley (£111,000 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

Manchester: £211,873The North West:£200,172UK: £274,712

Annual growth to December

Manchester: +5%The North West: +10.2%UK: +10.8%

Best and worst annual growth in the North West

Knowsley: +17.1%Allerdale: -2.1%