THE value of houses in Warrington and the cost of buying them continues to rise, new data shows.

House prices increased by 1.7 per cent in the town in February, which is the latest months for which figures are available.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.9 per cent over the last year.

The average Warrington house price in February was £261,253, Land Registry figures show – a 1.7 per cent increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the north west, where prices decreased 0.2 per cent, and Warrington was above the 0.4 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Warrington rose by £7,500 – putting the area 10th among the north west’s 35 local authority area with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Rossendale, where property prices increased on average by 11.7 per cent, to £213,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Burnley lost 9.3 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £103,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Warrington spent an average of £215,200 on their property – £5,400 more than a year ago, and £56,900 more than in February 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £302,100 on average in February – 40.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Warrington in February.

They increased 1.8 per cent, to £439,884 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.5 per cent.

Among other types of property, semi-detached homes were up 1.6 per cent monthly, rising 3.2 per cent annually to an average of £257,618.

For terraced properties, the price is up 1.6 per cent monthly and 1.8 per cent annually to a £204,375 average.

Regarding flats, the average price is £148,580 – rising 1.7 per cent monthly and 1.6 per cent annually.

How do property prices in Warrington compare?

Buyers paid 22.1 per cent more than the average price in the north west, which was £214,000, in February for a property in Warrington.

Across the north west, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the north west were in Trafford – £354,000 on average, and 1.4 times the price as in Warrington.

Trafford properties cost 3.4 times the price as homes in Burnley, which has an average of £103,000, at the other end of the scale.

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