House prices in Dacorum dropped more than average in May
The average house price in May was £396,169
House prices dropped more than average for the East of England in Dacorum in May, new figures show.
But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 0.7 per cent annual growth.
The average Dacorum house price in May was £396,169, Land Registry figures show – a 1.6 per cent decrease on April.
Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 1.0 per cent, and Dacorum underperformed compared to the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum rose by £2,900 – putting the area 22nd among the East of England’s 45 local authorities for annual growth.
Winners and Losers
Owners of detached houses fared worst in Dacorum in May – they dropped 2.0 per cent in price, to £817,345 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 1.8 per cent.
Among other types of property:
Semi-detached: down 1.4 per cent monthly; up 1.4 per cent annually; £450,217 average
Terraced: down 1.7 per cent monthly; up 0.5 per cent annually; £341,421 average
Flats: down 1.2 per cent monthly; down 0.3 per cent annually; £253,443 average
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £314,200 on their property – £1,400 more than a year ago, and £54,100 more than in May 2015.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £463,600 on average in May – 47.5 per cent more than first-time buyers.
How do property prices in Dacorum compare?
Buyers paid 17.3 per cent% less than the average price in the East of England (£479,000) in May for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £236,000.
The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £508,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Dacorum. Three Rivers properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£172,000 average), at the other end of the scale.
The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).