House price blow for region's homeowners

While average prices rose nationally by 4.4 per cent during 2013, the increase was only 0.7 per cent in Shropshire, including Telford & Wrekin, while in Mid Wales prices flatlined at 0 per cent.

Bill Brookes, of Shropshire estate agents DB Roberts, said: "The thing that determines prices is what people can afford to pay, and until there's a measurable increase in disposable income it's hard to see how people will be able to borrow, and therefore to pay more.

"The property market has certainly improved significantly – we sold twice as many houses this November as last – but that has to work its way through to values and it is more likely to do so in the spring."

The figures, from value monitoring service Hometrack, show that the average value of a house is now £206,726.

However, this figure is skewed by wide regional variations. London prices rocketed by 9.1 per cent.

After London, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, East Sussex and West Sussex completed the top five movers on house prices, with changes of 6.8 per cent, 6.7 per cent, 6.2 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively.

Propping up the table were Tyne and Wear, which saw a 1.5 per cent fall in values, Northumberland and Lancashire, where prices dropped by 0.1 per cent, and County Durham, where prices edged up by just 0.1 per cent.

Mr Brookes added: "While Shropshire does lag behind London and the Home Counties, I don't think it's necessarily lagging behind the North East, North West or most of Wales.

"People are now in a position to make a move and get quite a good mortgage deal, but if they are to make a move they would be better advised to do it in the first half of the year rather than the second, as if prices do really start to move that's when the gap will start widening to the more expensive properties."