Dacorum house prices dropped slightly in March

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.3 per cent, in Dacorum in March, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 6.4 per cent annual growth.

The average Dacorum house price in March was £428,422, Land Registry figures show – a 0.3 per cent decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East of England, where prices increased 1.2 per cent, and Dacorum underperformed compared to the 1.8 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum rose by £26,000 – putting the area 37th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in East Suffolk, where property prices increased on average by 17.3 per cent, to £282,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Welwyn Hatfield gained 0.1 per cent in value, giving an average price of £396,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in Dacorum in March – they dropped 0.9 per cent in price, to £264,442 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.6 per cent.

Among other types of property:

- Detached: down 0.3 per cent monthly; up 7.8 per cent annually; £893,201 average

- Semi-detached: down 0.3 per cent monthly; up 7.1 per cent annually; £489,520 average

- Terraced: remained level over the month; up 7.5 per cent annually; £373,908 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £338,000 on their property – £18,000 more than a year ago, and £36,000 more than in March 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £504,000 on average in March – 49.2 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Dacorum compare?

Buyers paid 36 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£315,000) in March for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £544,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Dacorum. Three Rivers properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£184,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.3 million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £94,000).

Factfile

Average property price in March:

> Dacorum: £428,422

> The East of England: £315,059

> UK: £256,405

Annual growth to March:

> Dacorum: +6.4 per cent

> The East of England: +9.4 per cent

> UK: +10.2 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the East of England:

> East Suffolk: +17.3 per cent

> Welwyn Hatfield: +0.1 per cent.