First-time buyers in Northumberland fork out an average of £149,300

The 0.3% rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.9% over the last year – though still the lowest in the North East.

The average Northumberland house price in June was £184,081, Land Registry figures show – a 0.3% increase on May.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North East, where prices increased 1.7%, and Northumberland was lower than the 1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Northumberland rose by £5,200 – putting the area bottom among the North East’s 12 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Middlesbrough, where property prices increased on average by 16.5%, to £141,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But activity is starting to slow, with soaring inflation putting household budgets under pressure.

First-time buyers in Northumberland spent an average of £149,300 on their property – £3,700 more than a year ago, and £26,200 more than in June 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £212,000 on average in June – 42% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Northumberland in June – they increased 0.8%, to £143,825 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 2%.

Among other types of property:

- Detached: down 0.4% monthly; up 4.6% annually; £314,657 average;

- Semi-detached: up 0.4% monthly; up 3.1% annually; £174,119 average;

- Flats: up 0.6% monthly; down 2% annually; £92,505 average.

Buyers paid 16.6% more than the average price in the North East (£158,000) in June for a property in Northumberland. Across the North East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in North Tyneside – £199,000 on average, and 8% more than in Northumberland. North Tyneside properties cost 1.6 times as much as homes in County Durham (£124,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.