HOUSE prices dropped slightly in St Helens in September, new figures show, but prices are still on the rise.

The drop for September, does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 5.5% annual growth.

The average St Helens house price in September was £141,576, Land Registry figures show – a 0.1% decrease on August.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the North West, where prices increased 1.2%, and St Helens underperformed compared to the 1.7% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in St Helens rose by £7,400 – putting the area 14th among the North West’s 39 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Lancaster, where properties increased on average by 7.7%, to £170,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Hyndburn dropped 3.4% in value, giving an average price of £96,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in St Helens in September – they dropped 0.4% in price, to £82,870 on average​. But over the last year, prices rose by 1.9%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.5% monthly; up 6% annually; £232,581 average

Semi-detached: down 0.3% monthly; up 6.2% annually; £147,052 average

Terraced: down 0.1% monthly; up 4.9% annually; £109,640 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in St Helens spent an average of £​126,700 on their property – ​£6,300 more than a year ago, ​and ​£25,600 more than in Sep-15.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​159,200 on average in September​ – 25.6% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in St Helens compare?

​Buyers paid 20.0% less than the average price in the North West (£177,000) in September for a property in St Helens.

Across the North West, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £245,000.

The most expensive properties in the North West were in Trafford – £307,000 on average, and 2.2 times as much as in St Helens.

Trafford properties cost 3.5 times as much as homes in Burnley (£88,000 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).

Factfile

Average property price in September

St Helens: £141,576

The North West: £176,976

UK: £244,513

Annual growth to September

St Helens: +5.5%

The North West: +6.0%

UK: +4.7%

Best and worst annual growth in the North West

Lancaster: +7.7%

Hyndburn: -3.4%