DURING the last quarter, two homes worth in excess of £2m were sold by a leading estate agency in one of the most desirable areas of the Wirral.

The buyers were individuals so wealthy they did not need a mortgage. And so it is that Caldy continues to be one of the most sought-after areas in Merseyside, and the most expensive postcode – the average price of a detached house is around £750,000.

But the vast majority of people do need a mortgage to buy a home, which is one of the major factors in the current drop in both sales and prices.

In our most extensive examination of the region’s property market, we have broken down the average price of homes, by category and by postcode.

According to data from the Land Registry sales were down 39% in the L postcode area which includes Liverpool, Knowsley, West Lancashire and most of Sefton for the year to June – the period for which the latest figures are available.

The number of sales in the CH area, which includes Wirral, Chest- er, Ellesmere Port, and Neston was down 45%.

CH43 – Bidston, Oxton, Prenton, and L25 Gateacre, Hunts Cross, and Woolton – were the most popular postcodes by volume of sales, with 130 properties changing hands in each between April and June.

In L18, which covers Allerton and Mossley Hill, there were 47 sales, but the average price was down 11.4% compared to the same period last year.

In Speke, the Land Registry’s figures show only 11 sales, none of which were semi-detached.

However, CH60 which includes Gayton and Heswall on the Wirral, recorded the lowest number of sales with just nine.