A Bolton estate agent said the town remains a cost-effective place in the UK to buy a house.

House prices fell in April leading to higher borrowing rates and with first-time buyers potentially holding off on buying.

In the year 2023, Bolton saw a slight decrease in the average house price, with the average price sitting just above two hundred thousand pounds (£203k).

Estate Agent and accountant Matthew Jones at the Purple Property Shop said: “While on the face of it, it may be disappointing the reduction was fairly slight, representing a drop of just 4 per cent on the previous year.

“As you would expect Bolton residents pay more for a detached property with the average price of a detached property coming in at just under four hundred thousand pounds (£395k), which is nearly double the price of the average semi-detached property at £210k.”

More affordable properties can be found within the town, with terraced properties averaging £127k and flats averaging £105k in Bolton.

Matthew said: “Bolton remains one of the more cost-effective places in the UK to purchase a property and is currently the 25th least expensive area, out of 113 postcode areas in the country.

“This is great news for Bolton residents as it means that the cost of living and therefore quality of life is significantly better in Bolton than in many other parts of the country.”

Matthew maintains 60 per cent of the housing stock in Bolton falls into the £100k to £250k price bracket with a further 25 per cent being valued under £100k.

He said: “This is great news for those purchasing properties, as properties that are priced at below £250,000 are exempt from Stamp Duty.

“This means that the vast majority of our housing stock is tax-free to purchase.

“Bolton remains a great place for first-time buyers and property investors alike with properties costing significantly less than other parts of the country.

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“The average house price to earnings ratio in Bolton is 6.0, meaning the average salary is one sixth of the average house price. This compares very favourably to the national average of 8.16.”

Overall housing in the North West faired much better in terms of house prices compared to the rest of the country in 2023.

The North West was the only region in the country to experience an overall increase in house prices, with a a rise of 1.2 percent, being recorded.