House prices dropped slightly, by 0.9 per cent, in Southend in March, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 3.2 per cent annual decline.

The average Southend house price in March was £316,518. Land Registry figures show a 0.9 per cent decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 0.5 per cent, and Southend was lower than the 0.7 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Southend fell by £10,000 – putting the area 34th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Southend spent an average of £265,200 on their property – £9,200 less than a year ago, but £27,600 more than in March 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £366,700 on average in March – 38.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Southend in March – they dropped 1.2 per cent in price, to £313,778 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 3.1 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 1.1 per cent monthly; down 3.5 per cent annually; £596,846 average

Semi-detached: down 1 per cent monthly; down 2.2 per cent annually; £406,451 average

Flats: down 0.6 per cent monthly; down 3.8 per cent annually; £204,218 average

How do property prices in Southend compare?

Buyers paid 7.4 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£342,000) in March for a property in Southend.

Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £283,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £576,000 on average, and 1.8 times the price as in Southend.

St Albans properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£212,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Average property price in March

Southend: £316,518

The East of England: £341,979

UK: £282,776

Annual change to March

Southend: -3.2 per cent

The East of England: +0.8 per cent

UK: +1.8 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England

The highest annual growth in the region was in East Cambridgeshire, where property prices increased on average by 10.6 per cent, to £355,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Hertsmere lost 9.9 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £470,000