Property prices in Merseyside are rocketing. But where are the hotspots?

Good morning. Property prices are up, up, up across Merseyside (with the exception of four postcodes where average property values are falling — shown in our map below), and prices are rising at a pace that’s notably faster than the rest of the north west. But what’s driving this growth? This and more in today’s data-heavy read.

Your news briefing

Letby findings published. In a press conference at Liverpool City Hall, Lady Thirlwall delivered her 1,100-page inquiry into the Countess of Chester Hospital. She recommended that cameras be installed in every neonatal unit and insulin access be restricted. She criticized “tribalism” and an “unthinking loyalty” to Letby which protected her from allegations. Several babies could have been saved with better hospital management, she found.

Big spike in theft. Data from Merseyside Police shows the number of shoplifting incidents has near doubled since the end of the pandemic – from 5,415 in 2020-21 to 10,419 in 2025-26. The Liverpool Business District say this doesn’t scratch the surface, with only 10% of shoplifting cases reported – they have set up a new radio system between shops to share information.

Summit at the Hill Dickinson. Andy Burnham returns from compassionate leave after the death of his father on Monday and will host Mark Carney – the Liberal Prime Minister of Canada, and a long-time Toffee – for Everton’s EFL Cup fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening. Before then, they’ve got a lengthy agenda of defence, energy, AI, and critical materials to get through.

“Everyone loves putting a house on Instagram, TikTok, all that, and being seen to live in certain areas and the lifestyle that comes with that,” Ian Taylor tells me. Taylor is an estate agent at Taylor Almond Property I’ve phoned to ask about the sizeable rise in property prices across Merseyside over the last year. To his mind, one of the striking changes he’s seen over the past years is home buyers opting for postcode over property size — something he argues is fuelled by the rise of social media and people prioritising being seen living a specific lifestyle: being out at trendy cafes or walking the dog in Sefton Park. But living just off Allerton Road, he’s not immune to the siren call of social media himself. 

“We’ll walk on a Saturday, get our matcha, take the dog for a walk and have brunch and all that stuff and upload it all onto social media once we’re done.” He thinks there’s almost a ‘keeping up with the Joneses thing’ happening online. “I look at some of my friends and wonder, do you ever walk your dog without putting it on Instagram or do you ever have a coffee without just posting a picture of you holding the coffee cup?”

Whichever way you slice it, Merseyside’s property is hot right now. Over the summer, the Office for National Statistics released their annual reckoning with house prices. In July 2026, the average house price in Liverpool had reached £189,000 — an astonishing 8.1% jump from just a year before. The market on the Wirral is also running hot at a 6.7% increase up to £222,000. Both of these areas’ house prices seemed to be increasing at a clip that was unusual for the region — the north west had seen a rise of 4.4% over the same period.

Or you could compare with other city regions across the country. This data is a bit older, but shows Liverpool City Region (Merseyside) growing much more quickly than other major cities — London has actually seen a small decline.

So why are Merseyside property prices rising so quickly during a cost of living crisis? And in which postcodes are prices rising fastest?