Dacorum house prices dropped by more than East of England average in February

House prices dropped by 2.2% – more than the average for the East of England – in Dacorum in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 4.6% annual growth.

The average Dacorum house price in February was £421,714, Land Registry figures show – a 2.2% decrease on January.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 0.9%, and Dacorum underperformed compared to the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum rose by £19,000 – putting the area 38th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Tendring, where property prices increased on average by 11.6%, to £239,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Stevenage gained 0.4% in value, giving an average price of £280,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses fared worst in Dacorum in February – they dropped 2.5% in price, to £877,616 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 6%.

Among other types of property:

> Semi-detached: down 2.4% monthly; up 5.2% annually; £480,828 average

> Terraced: down 2.2% monthly; up 5.1% annually; £366,406 average

> Flats: down 1.4% monthly; up 2.2% annually; £263,879 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £333,000 on their property – £13,000 more than a year ago, and £34,000 more than in January 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £496,000 on average in February – 48.7% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Dacorum compare?

Buyers paid 37.7% more than the average price in the East of England (£306,000) in February for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £250,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £555,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Dacorum. St Albans properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£188,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average February sale price of £1.2 million could buy 13 properties in Hyndburn (average £92,000).

Factfile

Average property price in February

- Dacorum: £421,714

- The East of England: £306,346

- UK: £250,341

Annual growth to February

- Dacorum: +4.6%

- The East of England: +6%

- UK: +8.6%.