How much has your Northampton home increased in value? And how does it compare to the rest of the country?

House prices increased by 1.6% in West Northamptonshire in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 13% 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 homeownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite Government figures showing 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

In a recent major speech in Blackpool, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a “comprehensive review” of the mortgage market would take place in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.

The average West Northamptonshire house price in April was £290,141, Land Registry figures show – a 1.6% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East Midlands, where prices decreased 0.5%, and West Northamptonshire was above the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in West Northamptonshire rose by £33,000 – putting the area 11th among the East Midlands’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Boston, where property prices increased on average by 18.6%, to £197,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Rutland gained just 0.2% in value, giving an average price of £354,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in West Northamptonshire spent an average of £241,000 on their property – £27,000 more than a year ago, and £49,000 more than in April 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £327,000 on average in April – 35.5% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in West Northamptonshire in April – they increased 1.7%, to £220,819 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 11.6%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.6% monthly; up 15.2% annually; £477,304 average

Semi-detached: up 1.6% monthly; up 13.6% annually; £276,270 average

Flats: up 1% monthly; up 7.6% annually; £145,354 average

How do property prices in West Northamptonshire compare?

Buyers paid 22% more than the average price in the East Midlands (£238,000) in April for a property in West Northamptonshire. Across the East Midlands, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the East Midlands were in Harborough – £375,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as more than in West Northamptonshire. Harborough properties cost 2.2 times as much as homes in Mansfield (£169,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in April

West Northamptonshire: £290,141

The East Midlands: £237,904

UK: £281,161

Annual growth to April

West Northamptonshire: +13%

The East Midlands: +12.4%

UK: +12.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East Midlands

Boston: +18.6%

Rutland: +0.2%