North Kesteven house prices dropped in April

House prices dropped by 1.4% in North Kesteven in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4% over the last year.

The average North Kesteven house price in April was £264,375, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4% decrease on March.

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

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in North Kesteven rose by £10,000 – putting the area 26th among the East Midlands’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Melton, where property prices increased on average by 13.3%, to £316,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Lindsey lost 0.1% of their value, giving an average price of £208,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in North Kesteven spent an average of £224,000 on their property – £8,800 more than a year ago, and £54,700 more than in April 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £287,800 on average in April – 28.5% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in North Kesteven in April – they dropped 1.6% in price, to £176,848 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 3.5%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.4% monthly; up 4% annually; £323,756 average
• Semi-detached: down 1.3% monthly; up 4.5% annually; £218,683 average
• Flats: down 0.9% monthly; up 2.2% annually; £113,878 average

How do property prices in North Kesteven compare?

Buyers paid 6.8% more than the average price in the East Midlands (£248,000) in April for a property in North Kesteven. Across the East Midlands, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the East Midlands were in Rutland – £380,000 on average, and 1.4 times the price as in North Kesteven. Rutland properties cost 2.1 times the price as homes in Mansfield (£179,000 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 April

• North Kesteven: £264,375
• The East Midlands:£247,634
• UK: £286,489

Annual growth to April

• North Kesteven: +4%
• The East Midlands: +4.6%
• UK: +3.5%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East Midlands

• Melton: +13.3%
• West Lindsey: -0.1%