Peterborough house prices drop slightly in September following a year-long trend

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.9 per cent annual decline suggesting the city is becoming a less attractive place to live or potential buyers are being more cautious in the area.

The average Peterborough house price in September was £194,637, Land Registry figures show – a half a per cent decrease on August.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East of England, where prices increased 2.6 per cent, and Peterborough underperformed compared to the 1.7 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Peterborough remained level – putting the area towards the bottom of the region at 41st out of the East of England’s 47 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in South Norfolk, where properties increased on average by 8.9 per cent, to £278,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Broxbourne dropped 3.1 per cent in value, giving an average price of £348,000.

Owners of semi-detached houses fared worst in Peterborough in September – they dropped 0.7 per cent in price, to £197,207 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.3 per cent.

Among other types of property, detached were down 0.1 per cent monthly; down 1.1 per cent annually; £310,748 average. Terraced: down 0.6 per cent monthly; down 1.8 per cent annually; £155,770 average. Flats: down 0.5 per cent monthly; down 4.9 per cent annually; £104,761 average.

It means good news for first-time buyers in Peterborough who spent an average of £163,700 on their property – £3,700 less than a year ago, but £30,000 more than in September 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £219,800 on average in September – 34.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Peterborough compare?

Buyers paid 36.3 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£306,000) in September for a property in Peterborough. Across the East of England, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £245,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £530,000 on average, and 2.7 times as much as in Peterborough. St Albans properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£178,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average September sale price of £1.3 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).