Average house price revealed in the Warwick district - and how it compares to other areas

House prices dropped in the Warwick district in May, new figures show.

​But the ​drop ​does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 2.6% annual growth​.

And Leamington on its own saw the highest monthly rise since February 2004.

The average Warwick district house price in May was £311,542, Land Registry figures show​ – a 2.8% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was ​worse than that across the West Midlands, where prices ​increased 1.5%​, and the Warwick district - which covers Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth - underperformed compared to the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Warwick district ​​rose by £7,900 – putting the ​area 19th among the West Midlands’s 30 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Staffordshire Moorlands, where properties increased on average by 8.3%, to £190,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in North Warwickshire dropped 1.0% in value, giving an average price of £202,000.

A rise in Leamington

In Leamington, latest month on month figures, issued by building society Nationwide, show prices rose across the UK by 2% last month – the highest monthly rise since February 2004, when they increased by 2.7%.

The rise, which equates to an annual increase of 3.7%, comes as no surprise to ehB Residential MD Edward Bromwich, who says his team have been inundated with viewing requests since lockdown started easing.

He said: “The reasons for people’s desire to move are fairly universal wherever you are in the country.

"They are realising that working from home is not a phase – that even after a vaccine has been found, it will become standard practice for many.

"So, as well as needing office space they want to live in a place where they feel happy all day – not just at weekends and for a snatched breakfast before catching a train or jumping in the car.

“They’ve had a chance to reassess what’s important to them. In the past being near shops or road links may have been top of the wish list, now perhaps it’s living within a close-knit community, near a park or green space or having a garden. They may not need to live as close to their place of work, which gives them greater scope when choosing a location.

“Any homes which tick these boxes are being snapped up – some before they officially hit the market. This is leaving some house hunters disappointed and keen to get in at the head of the queue for the next dream home."

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in the Warwick district in May – they dropped 3.1% in price, to £270,945 on average​. But over the last year, prices rose by 2%.

Among other types of property:

- Detached: down 2.7% monthly; up 4.2% annually; £546,032 average

- Semi-detached: down 2.6% monthly; up 3% annually; £327,030 average

- Flats: down 2.6% monthly; up 0.8% annually; £200,774 average

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First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Warwick district spent an average of £​254,700 on their property – ​£5,700 more than a year ago, ​and ​£44,600 more than in May 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​362,200 on average in May​ – 42.2% more than first-time buyers.

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How do property prices in Warwick compare?

Buyers paid 53.0% more than the average price in the West Midlands (£204,000) in May for a property in Warwick. Across the West Midlands, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £236,000.

The most expensive properties in the West Midlands were in Stratford – £318,000 on average, and 2% in Warwick. Stratford properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Stoke (£116,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).

FACTFILE

Average property price in May

- Warwick: £311,542

- The West Midlands: £203,658

- UK: £235,673

Annual growth to May

- Warwick: +2.6%

- The West Midlands: +3.4%

- UK: +2.9%

Best and worst annual growth in the West Midlands

- Staffordshire Moorlands: +8.3%

- North Warwickshire: -1.0%