January house prices fell slightly in Wigan

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a two per cent annual decline.

The average Wigan house price in January was £185,283, Land Registry figures show – a 0.2 per cent decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the North West, where prices decreased 0.6 per cent, but Wigan was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wigan fell by £3,800 – putting the area 23rd among the North West’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in West Lancashire, where property prices increased on average by 8 per cent, to £240,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Burnley lost 12.1 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £101,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Wigan spent an average of £164,600 on their property – £3,700 less than a year ago, but £47,100 more than in January 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £206,000 on average in January – 25.1 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Wigan in January – they dropped 0.5 per cent in price, to £142,174 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 3.7 per cent.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: up 0.4 per cent monthly; up 0.3 per cent annually; £306,282 average
• Semi-detached: down 0.2 per cent monthly; down 1.5 per cent annually; £188,155 average
• Flats: down 0.3 per cent monthly; down 3.2 per cent annually; £99,191 average

How do property prices in Wigan compare?

Buyers paid 13.9 per cent less than the average price in the North West (£215,000) in January for a property in Wigan.

Across the North West, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £352,000 on average, and 1.9 times the price as in Wigan.

Trafford properties cost 3.5 times the price as homes in Burnley (£101,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.2 million.