HOUSE prices have increased by around 10 per cent in Dudley over the last year, figures show.

Land Registry figures show the average Dudley house price in October was £208,928 – a 0.8 per cent increase on September, with a 10.1 per cent growth seen in the last year.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across West Midlands, where prices decreased 3.3 per cent, and Dudley outperformed the 1.1 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dudley rose by £19,000 – putting the area 17th among West Midlands’s 30 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Dudley in October – they increased 1.3 per cent, to £320,283 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 11.2 per cent.

Semi-detached homes increased by 0.7 per cent over the month, with the average costing £206,507, and prices having risen by 10.3 per cent over the last year.

Terraced homes have gone up by 0.8 per cent compared to the previous month, with the average costing £172,025 and prices having risen by 9.3 per cent in the last 12 months.

While flats have gone up by up 0.3 per cent over the month, 7.6 per cent in the last year and the average cost is £115,684.

Dean Gregg, managing director at G&T Properties in Brierley Hill, said the price rises were likely due to a number of factors.

He said the big increase in the sale prices of detached homes was likely due to the stamp duty holiday but he said: “I believe this will now reduce in line with property increases in general now the stamp duty holiday has ended.

"There were huge savings of up to £20k in stamp duty due to the stamp duty holidays and a you can imagine people saw this as a big opportunity to move to a bigger home.”

He said reduced interest rates since Covid hit and a very competitive lending market and the introduction of 95 per cent mortgages had “definitely added fuel to the fire”.

The ease of being able to get a mortgage remotely too had contributed, along with huge buyer demand and a lower housing stock to choose from.

He said: “Covid, people splitting up, people falling out of love with their homes so wanting to move and the need for a home office - with working from home now very vogue.

“Investors are also very keen to buy bricks and mortar again due to the uncertainty with stocks and shares and no return in leaving money in the bank.”

Data shows first-time buyers in Dudley spent an average of £183,000 on their property – £16,000 more than a year ago, and £45,000 more than in October 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £232,000 on average in October – 26.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Buyers paid 7.7 per cent less than the average price in West Midlands (£226,000) in October for a property in Dudley.

Across West Midlands, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost is £268,000.

The most expensive properties in West Midlands were in Stratford-on-Avon – £365,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in Dudley.

Stratford-on-Avon properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Stoke (£130,000 average) at the other end of the scale.