House prices in Northumberland fall by 1.5 per cent

But the fall does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 5.6% 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 home ownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite government figures showing 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

The average Northumberland house price in April was £180,976, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5% decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North East, where prices increased 0.1%, and Northumberland was lower than the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Northumberland rose by £9,600 – putting the area 10th 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 £142,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gateshead gained just 5.4% in value, giving an average price of £149,000.

First-time buyers in Northumberland spent an average of £146,500 on their property – £7,000 more than a year ago, and £24,000 more than in April 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £208,700 on average in April – 42.5% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Northumberland in April – they dropped 2.1% in price, to £90,819 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.3%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 1.3% monthly; up 8.2% annually; £312,789 average;

Semi-detached: down 1.6% monthly; up 5.9% annually; £171,243 average;

Terraced: down 1.5% monthly; up 3.8% annually; £139,740 average;

Buyers paid 16.6% more than the average price in the North East (£155,000) in April for a property in Northumberland. Across the North East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.