Dacorum house prices have dropped show figures released this week

House prices have dropped by 2.6 per cent in Dacorum, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 7.7 per cent annual decline.

The average Dacorum house price in January was £451,025, Land Registry figures show – a 2.6 per cent decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 1.2 per cent, and Dacorum was lower than the 0.5 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum fell by £38,000 – putting the area 43rd among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in East Cambridgeshire, where property prices increased on average by 9.1 per cent, to £352,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Ipswich lost 11.3 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £213,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £356,000 on their property – £30,000 less than a year ago, but £37,000 more than in January 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £530,000 on average in January – 48.9% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Dacorum in January – they dropped 2.7 per cent in price, to £390,417 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 8.6 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 2.6 per cent monthly; down 8.1 per cent annually; £932,358 average

Semi-detached: down 2.6 per cent monthly; down 7.2 per cent annually; £521,088 average

Flats: down 2.3 per cent monthly; down 6.6 per cent annually; £278,008 average

How do property prices in Dacorum compare?

Buyers paid 34 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£337,000) in January for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £558,000 on average, and 1.2 times the price as in Dacorum. Three Rivers properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£210,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.2 million.

Factfile

Average property price in January

Dacorum: £451,025

The East of England: £336,502

UK: £281,913

Annual change to January

Dacorum: -7.7 per cent

The East of England: -2.2 per cent

UK: -0.6 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England

East Cambridgeshire: +9.1 per cent

Ipswich: -11.3 per cent