Shropshire house price growth falls behind national average

The typical property in Shropshire sold for a new record figure of £204,115 in July, the Land Registry data shows, while in Telford the average selling price hit £156,411 – a figure only bettered once, in February this year.

But the rate of growth across the county remains sluggish compared with national and regional averages.

The UK has seen house prices inflate by 5.1 per cent over the last 12 months, hitting £226,185, and the West Midlands has notched up 6.9 per cent growth over the same period to leave the average property worth £189,077.

But Shropshire's annual growth rate was 3.97 per cent, while Telford & Wrekin's prices are 3.9 per cent up on the same time last year.

Bill Brookes, from Shropshire estate agents DB Roberts, said the prices in July would have reflected the state of the market in the spring, when the sales were agreed.

"There was less property available and that brings a bit of pressure on prices, and I suppose there was a degree of optimism in the market at that time," he said.

"You would expect to see some uplift, but because really no circumstances have changed significantly locally, you wouldn't expect a sudden leap.

"The good news is that while Shropshire doesn't have the peaks, it also doesn't have the troughs, so when there's a downturn it doesn't get the drastic drops you see in other parts of the country."

He added: "I would say that some of that West Midlands increase is because investors in the South East are turning their attentions further north in order to get their returns."

The main contribution to the increase in UK house prices came from England, where house prices increased by 5.4 per cent over the year to July, reaching £243,000 on average.

In Wales, house prices increase by 3.1 per cent over the previous 12 months to stand at £151,000 typically, but Powys outstripped that figure with annual growth of 5.57 per cent.

It means that the typical property in the Mid Wales county sold for £175,275 during July.