HOUSE prices increased more than average for the North West in the borough in March, new figures show.

​The ​boost ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 6% annual growth​.

The average house price in March was £139,771, Land Registry figures show​ – a 1.9% increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was ​better than that across the North West, where prices ​increased 0.2%​, and Wigan outperformed the 0.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wigan ​​rose by £7,900 – putting the ​area ninth among the North West’s 39 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Rossendale, where properties increased on average by 18.3%, to £158,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in Fylde dropped 8.7% in value, giving an average price of £172,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Wigan in March – they increased 2.3%, to £230,743 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 6.1%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 2% monthly; up 6.4% annually; £141,197 average

Terraced: up 1.6% monthly; up 5.7% annually; £106,660 average

Flats: up 1.6% monthly; up 3.7% annually; £78,961 average

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First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Wigan spent an average of £​123,800 on their property – ​£7,000 more than a year ago, ​and ​£23,900 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​155,800 on average in March​ – 25.8% more than first-time buyers.

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How do property prices in Wigan compare?

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Buyers paid 15.9% less than the average price in the North West (£166,000) in March for a property in Wigan. Across the North West, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £293,000 on average, and 2.1 times as much as in Wigan. Trafford properties cost 3.4 times as much as homes in Burnley (£86,000 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

Wigan: £139,771

The North West: £166,202

UK: £231,855

Annual growth to March

Wigan: +6.0%

The North West: +3.4%

UK: +2.1%

Best and worst annual growth in the North West

Rossendale: +18.3%

Fylde: -8.7%