St Helens house prices dropped in September

House prices dropped by 2.8% in St Helens in September, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 3.6% annual decline.

The average St Helens house price in September was £169,069, Land Registry figures show – a 2.8% decrease on August.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North West, where prices increased 0.5%, and St Helens was lower than the 0.5% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in St Helens fell by £6,400 – putting the area 30th among the North West’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Ribble Valley, where property prices increased on average by 7.3%, to £284,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Burnley lost 10.9% of their value, giving an average price of £105,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in St Helens spent an average of £151,500 on their property – £6,000 less than a year ago, but £36,000 more than in September 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £190,000 on average in September – 25.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in St Helens in September – they dropped 3.4% in price, to £91,013 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 5.5%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 2.1% monthly; down 0.7% annually; £287,777 average
• Semi-detached: down 2.7% monthly; down 3.6% annually; £175,614 average
• Terraced: down 3% monthly; down 4.7% annually; £130,114 average

How do property prices in St Helens compare?

Buyers paid 22.5% less than the average price in the North West (£218,000) in September for a property in St Helens. Across the North West, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £291,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £366,000 on average, and 2.2 times the price as in St Helens. Trafford properties cost 3.5 times the price as homes in Burnley (£105,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in September

• St Helens: £169,069
• The North West:£218,013
• UK: £291,385

Annual change to September

• St Helens: -3.6%
• The North West: +0.6%
• UK: -0.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the North West

• Ribble Valley: +7.3%
• Burnley: -10.9%