HOUSE prices dropped by 3.1% in Herefordshire in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 6.2% annual growth.

The average Herefordshire house price in February was £253,882, Land Registry figures show – a 3.1% decrease on January.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the West Midlands, where prices increased 0.8%, and Herefordshire underperformed compared to the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Herefordshire rose by £15,000 – putting the area 27th among the West Midlands’s 34 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in North Warwickshire, where property prices increased on average by 19.3%, to £245,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Telford and Wrekin gained 3.1% in value, giving an average price of £177,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses fared worst in Herefordshire in February – they dropped 3.2% in price, to £367,011 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 7%.

Terraced houses were down 3% monthly but up 6.1% annually at an average price of £176,230, and flats were down 2.5% monthly and up 3.2% annually at an average price of £119,973.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Herefordshire spent an average of £194,000 on their property – £10,000 more than a year ago, and £28,000 more than in January 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £289,000 on average in February – 48.4% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Herefordshire compare?

Buyers paid 17.8% more than the average price in the West Midlands (£215,000) in February for a property in Herefordshire. Across the West Midlands, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £250,000.

The most expensive properties in the West Midlands were in Stratford-on-Avon – £345,000 on average, and 1.4 times as much as in Herefordshire. Stratford-on-Avon properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Stoke (£125,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average February sale price of £1.2 million could buy 13 properties in Hyndburn (average £92,000).