Houses prices in Wakefield slightly increased in April

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 11.5% 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 Wakefield house price in April was £187,399, Land Registry figures show – a 0.2% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Yorkshire and the Humber, where prices increased 1.6%, and Wakefield was lower than the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wakefield rose by £19,000 – putting the area ninth among Yorkshire and the Humber’s 21 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Scarborough, where property prices increased on average by 17%, to £212,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Hambleton gained just 4.4% in value, giving an average price of £270,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Wakefield spent an average of £165,000 on their property – £17,000 more than a year ago, and £44,000 more than in April 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £213,000 on average in April – 29.5% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Wakefield in April – they increased 0.3%, to £304,504 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 13.2%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 0.2% monthly; up 12% annually; £178,559 average

Terraced: up 0.2% monthly; up 10% annually; £144,916 average

Flats: down 0.2% monthly; up 6.7% annually; £97,140 average

How do property prices in Wakefield compare?

Buyers paid 7.1% less than the average price in Yorkshire and the Humber (£202,000) in April for a property in Wakefield. Across Yorkshire and the Humber, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.

The most expensive properties in Yorkshire and the Humber were in Harrogate – £338,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as more than in Wakefield. Harrogate properties cost 2.6 times as much as homes in Hull (£128,000 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

Wakefield: £187,399

Yorkshire and the Humber: £201,806

UK: £281,161

Annual growth to April

Wakefield: +11.5%

Yorkshire and the Humber: +12.1%

UK: +12.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in Yorkshire and the Humber

Scarborough: +17%

Hambleton: +4.4%