House prices increased slightly, by 0.7 per cent, across the Cumberland Council area in August, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 7.4 per cent over the last year.

The average Cumberland Council area house price in August was £177,417. Land Registry figures show a 0.7 per cent increase on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North West, where prices increased 2.4 per cent, and the Cumberland was lower than the 1.5 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

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First-time buyers in the region spent an average of £152,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £34,000 more than in August 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £202,000 on average in August – 32.8 per cent more than first-time buyers.