This is what the pandemic has done to house prices in Hartlepool

But the ​drop ​does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 2.5% annual growth​.

The average Hartlepool house price in March was £104,818, Land Registry figures show​ – a 3.7% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was ​worse than that across the North East, where prices ​decreased 0.6%​, and Hartlepool underperformed compared to the 0.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Hartlepool ​​rose by £2,500 – putting the ​area seventh among the North East’s 12 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Middlesbrough, where properties increased on average by 10.1%, to £119,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in County Durham dropped 1.2% in value, giving an average price of £96,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Hartlepool in March – they dropped 4.3% in price, to £75,083 on average​. But over the last year, prices rose by 2%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 3.2% monthly; up 2.8% annually; £181,065 average

Semi-detached: down 3.6% monthly; up 2.8% annually; £108,247 average

Flats: down 3.5% monthly; up 1.4% annually; £59,251 average

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First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Hartlepool spent an average of £​88,500 on their property – ​£2,000 more than a year ago, ​and ​£5,800 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​124,100 on average in March​ – 40.3% more than first-time buyers.

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How do property prices in Hartlepool compare?

​Buyers paid 17.4% less than the average price in the North East (£127,000) in March for a property in Hartlepool. Across the North East, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the North East were in North Tyneside – £160,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as in Hartlepool. North Tyneside properties cost 1.7 times as much as homes in County Durham (£96,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £86,000).

Factfile

Average property price in March

Hartlepool: £104,818

The North East: £126,945

UK: £231,855

Annual growth to March

Hartlepool: +2.5%

The North East: +1.8%

UK: +2.1%

Best and worst annual growth in the North East

Middlesbrough: +10.1%

County Durham: -1.2%