A Post Office Money annual study has revealed that savvy first time buyers who had the foresight to buy in Stockport last year will have seen the largest return on investment in the region.
House prices in Stockport have jumped by 10% in the last year, now valued at £225,000, against the regional average of 3%.
Despite this, 31% of the city region is still affordable for first time buyers. Only Trafford in Greater Manchester has no affordable areas for FTBs in the region.
Post Office Money today revealed that 84% of properties sold across the North West are in areas affordable for first-time buyers. The research, based on analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data found that in the last year house prices have continued to grow steadily in the region, increasing by 3% on average.
The average property in the region is now £156,854 and a FTB household will earn a combined £40,053. However, prospective FTBs can get properties as low as £70,000 in areas of Blackpool – which is Britain’s most affordable city for FTBs
Ross Hunter, Post Office Money comments:
“The North West continues to see steady growth, and despite this, it remains relatively affordable for first-time buyers. While other areas of the country are seeing house price stagnation or even falls in value, buyers in the North West have yet to see this. “To help young buyers find the best value in their local areas, Post Office Money provides a tool that allows FTBs to hunt for their most affordable local areas and also figure out how long they it will take them to save for their deposit
County | City | % of city affordable 2018 |
Lancashire | Blackpool | 100% |
Merseyside | Knowsley | 95% |
Greater Manchester | Wigan | 90% |
Greater Manchester | Oldham | 88% |
Merseyside | St. Helens | 87% |
Greater Manchester | Rochdale | 84% |
Greater Manchester | Tameside | 83% |
Merseyside | Liverpool | 80% |
Greater Manchester | Bolton | 80% |
Cumbria | Carlisle | 77% |
Greater Manchester | Salford | 73% |
Merseyside | Wirral | 64% |
Greater Manchester | Manchester | 61% |
Merseyside | Sefton | 61% |
Cheshire | Warrington | 56% |
Greater Manchester | Bury | 54% |
Greater Manchester | Stockport | 31% |
Greater Manchester | Trafford | 7% |
Research / source:
1 Opinium Research was briefed by Post Office Money to conduct a study into the affordability of properties for first-time buyers in the UK, covering over 80 locations across the UK
The percentage of each city that is affordable to first time buyers was calculated by seeing what proportion of the middle layer super output areas (MSOA) in each local authority had a median house price lower than 4.5 times the average income of first-time buyers in each region.
Property price data sourced from the ONS House Price Statistics for Small Areas, quarterly statistics from the Registers of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Residential Property Price Index. Data on first time buyers’ salaries in each region sourced from the ONS House Price Index.