THE average price of a North-East home has fallen below £100,000.

Figures from the Land Registry show average house prices for the region dropped by 5.5 per cent during the year to March.

The fall was the biggest for any region in England and Wales.

The average North-East house now sells for £97,033 - compared to the national average of £161,793.

Middlesbrough experienced the biggest annual drop in the country - down by 5.1 per cent on the month and by 16.5 per cent on the year.

But Richard Poole, of Michael Poole Estate Agents, in Middlesbrough, said buyers should not be put off entering the market. 

“What we are seeing at the moment is just some levelling of the market -house prices have finally found their true level.

“It’s now a buyers’ market and there are some great prices out there.

“I think people can buy in confidence and hopefully in six or seven years we will see some growth.

"They can have confidence that prices won’t fall ten to 15 per cent in 12 months. They’re bobbling along - there won’t be massive falls or massive increases.”

Repossessions in the North-East fell from 42 in the year to March 2012 to 39 last year.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, house prices fell by 0.8 per cent over the year to an average of £117,192.

In England and Wales, house prices rose 0.9 per cent, an increase driven by the London market.

The average price of a property in Kensington and Chelsea is now £1.1m.

Houses or flats in the capital cost more than double property elsewhere.