HOUSE prices have had a sharp increase in the last year, according to a new report published this week.

Nationwide Building Society has reported in its December House Price Index that house prices reached a six-year high in 2020, with an average month-on-month growth of 0.8 per cent.

According to the Land Registry data, house prices in Carlisle increased by 4.3 per cent between November 2019 and November 2020.

However, the Nationwide report notes an average increase of 6.5 per cent for houses being sold in the broader area of the north.

Gordon Adamson, director of Northwood Carlisle, said: “We’ve seen this increase at Northwood as well (somewhere around six per cent), all on the back of the release from the first lockdown.

“Demand has risen from potential buyers desire for more living space including space to work from home. Gardens are high in demand, as are properties outside of the city.

“A huge amount of home owners used the first lockdown for home improvements in preparation to best ready their property for sale.”

The Land Registry data shows that the average price of any style of home in the city is £143,000 as of October 2020.

However the average price for a detached house rises to £240,194 and the average price for a terraced house is £112,517.

“With high demand this has caused properties to sell more quickly, and either at asking price of close to it,” said Mr Adamson.

“Generally properties sold for between 95-97 per cent of the asking price. Lately this has been 99-100 per cent and sometimes over the asking price.

“With demand outstripping supply, prices have been pushed up.”

The pandemic, and lockdown, has left many industries facing uncertain futures.

Mr Adamson explains that any kind of predictions being made about house prices going into 2021 are purely guesses as it is filled with uncertainty.

He said: “I expect 2021 to flatten out but I don’t expect a price drop but, like most industries, we’re guessing as we’re entering into unchartered territory.”