House prices unsurprisingly dropped in North West Leicestershire in March, new figures show.

This was the month when the Coronavirus restrictions began, resulting in lockdown from March 23.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.1 per cent annual decline.

The average North West Leicestershire house price in March was £202,260, Land Registry figures show – a 2.9 per cent decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East Midlands, where prices increased 0.4 per cent, and North West Leicestershire underperformed compared to the 0.2 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

But the average price of a house in the district is still almost £8,000 higher than across the rest of the East Midlands.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in North West Leicestershire remained level – putting the area 30th among the East Midlands's 40 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Leicester, where properties increased on average by 12.4 per cent, to £187,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in East Lindsey dropped 5.7% in value, giving an average price of £173,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in North West Leicestershire in March – they dropped 3.6 per cent in price, to £143,570 on average . Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.5 per cent.

Detached: down 2.6 per cent monthly; down 1.0 per cent annually; £281,076 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in North West Leicestershire spent an average of £ 167,300 on their property – £1,900 less than a year ago, and £25,800 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £ 226,700 on average in March – 35.5 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in North West Leicestershire compare?

Buyers paid 3.9 per cent more than the average price in the East Midlands (£195,000) in March for a property in North West Leicestershire. Across the East Midlands, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the East Midlands were in South Northamptonshire – £327,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in North West Leicestershire. South Northamptonshire properties cost 2.6 times as much as homes in Bolsover (£124,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £86,000).

Factfile

Average property price in March

North West Leicestershire: £202,260

UK: £231,855

Annual growth to March

The East Midlands: +2.1 per cent

East Lindsey: -5.7 per cent