St Helens house prices dropped in July

House prices dropped by 1% in St Helens in July, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 0.7% annual decline.

The average St Helens house price in July was £177,538, Land Registry figures show – a 1% decrease on June.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North West, where prices increased 0.3%, and St Helens was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in St Helens fell by £1,200 – putting the area 32nd among the North West’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in West Lancashire, where property prices increased on average by 9.1%, to £242,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Halton lost 2.6% of their value, giving an average price of £180,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in St Helens spent an average of £159,000 on their property – £1,500 less than a year ago, but £43,400 more than in July 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £199,600 on average in July – 25.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in St Helens in July – they dropped 1.5% in price, to £96,472 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.3%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1% monthly; up 1.3% annually; £299,427 average
• Semi-detached: down 1.1% monthly; down 0.6% annually; £184,514 average
• Terraced: down 0.9% monthly; down 1.5% annually; £136,779 average

How do property prices in St Helens compare?

Buyers paid 17.7% less than the average price in the North West (£216,000) in July 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 £290,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £362,000 on average, and twice the price as in St Helens. Trafford properties cost 3.2 times the price as homes in Burnley (£114,000 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 July

• St Helens: £177,538
• The North West:£215,648
• UK: £289,824

Annual change to July

• St Helens: -0.7%
• The North West: +1%
• UK: +0.6%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the North West

• West Lancashire: +9.1%
• Halton: -2.6%