House prices in the North East have been boosted by the Brexit vote, having performed strongly in the build up to and aftermath of the referendum on the UK’s European Union membership.

North East sales and lettings company KIS revealed their research findings that showed property prices in the region increase by almost 5% over the last month, with the average home gaining almost £9,000 in value.

The increase comes after the 0.4% increase in May and means that the region’s house prices are now positive over the course of the year, having previously fallen 4% in April and 3.1% in January.

The price of the average house in the North East is now 6.5% higher than this time last year and is typically valued at around £165,039.

In all of the 20 areas surveyed, house values increase, with rises ranging from 0.7% in Gateshead to 9% in Durham City.

The strongest growth areas were found in Killingworth (7.2%), North Shields (7.5%) and Tynemouth (7.6%).

The latter has been named as the best place to buy for the last month because of its capital appreciation of 12.5% year on year, which is the highest in the region.

In the last year other strong performing areas are Houghton-le-Spring and North Shields (10.8% increase), while prices in Jarrow have decreased by 0.8% in the same time frame.

On average, rents in the North East went up by £10 per calendar month to June’s figure of £580pcm, which is a 1.7% increase.

Compared with March, rents in the North East are now almost £30 much expensive and have seen a year on year growth of 4%, a rise from last May’s £565 figure.

As a result of the increasing property prices, average rental yields in the North East have fallen back by 0.1% to 4.3%, although this is still up 0.3% on levels recorded at the close of the last financial quarter.