Should I buy a house now? House prices in Preston are falling making an ideal time for first time buyers
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House prices dropped by 0.9% – more than the average for the North West – in Preston in January, new figures show.
But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.6% over the last year.
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Hide AdThe average Preston house price in January was £160,803, Land Registry figures show – a 0.9% decrease on December.
Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the North West, where prices decreased 0.6%, and Preston was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Preston rose by £4,100 – putting the area eighth among the North West’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.
The highest annual growth in the region was in West Lancashire, where property prices increased on average by 8%, to £240,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Burnley lost 12.1% of their value, giving an average price of £101,000.
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Hide AdFirst steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Preston spent an average of £132,700 on their property – £2,600 more than a year ago, and £29,200 more than in January 2019.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £185,700 on average in January – 39.9% more than first-time buyers.
Property types
Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Preston in January – they dropped 1.5% in price, to £125,679 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 0.2%.
Among other types of property:
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Hide Ad- Detached: up 0% monthly; up 6.7% annually; £298,070 average
- Semi-detached: down 1% monthly; up 2.9% annually; £181,672 average
- Flats: down 1% monthly; up 2.4% annually; £89,857 average
How do property prices in Preston compare?
Buyers paid 25.2% less than the average price in the North West (£215,000) in January for a property in Preston. Across the North West, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.
The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £352,000 on average, and 2.2 times the price as in Preston. Trafford properties cost 3.5 times the price as homes in Burnley (£101,000 average), at the other end of the scale.
The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.2 million.
Factfile
Average property price in January
- Preston: £160,803
- The North West: £215,082
- UK: £281,913
Annual change to January
- Preston: +2.6%
- The North West: +1%
- UK: -0.6%
Highest and lowest annual growth in the North West
- West Lancashire: +8%
- Burnley: -12.1%
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