House prices dropped in Denbighshire in February, new figures show.
But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area remain level.
The average Denbighshire house price in February was £154,350.69, Land Registry figures show – a 3.6% decrease on January.
Over the month, the picture was worse than that across Wales, where prices increased 1.17%, and Denbighshire underperformed compared to the 0.62% drop for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Denbighshire remained level – putting the area 18th among Wales’s 22 local authorities for annual growth.
The best annual growth in the region was in Merthyr Tydfil, where properties increased on average by 11.51%, to £114,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Powys dropped 4.9% in value, giving an average price of £178,000.
Winners and Losers
Owners of semi-detached houses fared worst in Denbighshire in February – they dropped 3.8% in price, to £138,486.36 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.48%.
Among other types of property:
Detached: down 3.6% monthly; down 0.3% annually; £194,365.91 average
Terraced: down 3.5% monthly; up 0.45% annually; £109,508.78 average
Flats: down 2.9% monthly; down 1.7% annually; £81,100.84 average
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Denbighshire spent an average of £137,660.85 on their property – £2.88 more than a year ago, and £15,755.12 more than in February 2015.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £170,387.13 on average in February – 23.8% more than first-time buyers.
How do property prices in Denbighshire compare?
Buyers paid 6.1% less than the average price in Wales (£164,000) in February for a property in Denbighshire. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £230,000.
The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £267,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as in Denbighshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£94,000 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 £1.3 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £85,000).
Average property price in February
Denbighshire: £154,350.69
Wales: £164,434.73
UK: £230,331.55
Annual growth to February
Denbighshire: 0.0%
Wales: +3.4%
UK: +1.1%
Best and worst annual growth in Wales
Merthyr Tydfil: +11.5%
Powys: -4.9%
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