Watford house prices dropped in November

While prices dropped by 2.2 per cent in Watford – more than the average for the East of England – it does not reverse the long-term trend which has seen property prices in the area achieve a 3.4 per annual growth.

The average house price in November was £361,578, Land Registry figures show – a 2.2 per cent decrease from October.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 0.3 per cent, and Watford underperformed compared to the 1.2 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Watford rose by £12,000 – putting the area 29th 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 11.1 per cent, to £271,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Broxbourne lost 0.7 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £347,000.

How did this affect different types of properties?

Owners of flats fared worst in Watford in November – they dropped 2.5 per cent in price, to £264,416 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.6 per cent.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 2 per cent monthly; up 6.1 per cent annually; £860,047 average

• Semi-detached: down 1.9 per cent monthly; up 5.2 per cent annually; £481,220 average

• Terraced: down 2.1 per cent monthly; up 4.6 per cent annually; £381,796 average

How did this affect first-time buyers?

First-time buyers in Watford spent an average of £320,200 on their property – £8,400 more than a year ago, and £34,800 more than in October 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £417,000 on average in November – 30.2 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Watford compare?

Buyers paid 19.5 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£303,000) in November for a property in Watford. 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 – £533,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as in Watford. St Albans properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£179,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average November sale price of £1.5 million could buy 16 properties in Blaenau Gwent (average £95,000).