Watford house prices have dropped by over £20,000 in a month as part of the worst annual fall in the East of England.

Property values in the town fell 3.4 per cent in April, according to recently published Land Registry data, bringing the average price to £376,035, compared to £397,881 in March.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen Watford prices suffer the worst annual decline in the East of England at 8.6 per cent.

Average values for the eastern counties have risen 0.4 per cent in the last 12 months against a 1.1 per cent increase nationally.

Meanwhile for April prices in Watford fell 0.7 per cent, despite a 0.3 per cent rise nationwide. 

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Watford has fallen by £35,000, putting the area bottom of the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in East Cambridgeshire, where prices increased on average by 7.8 per cent, to £351,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Watford spent an average of £334,000 on their property – £30,000 less than a year ago, but £25,000 more than in April 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £430,000 on average in April – 28.8 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Watford in April as they dropped 4.2 per cent in price, to £875,951 on average. While prices fell by 10.9 per cent in total over the last year.

Among other types of property, terraced houses were down 3.9 per cent on March while flats were the least affected with a 2.7 per cent decrease.

Full figures:

  • Semi-detached: down 3.8 per cent monthly; down 9.1 per cent annually; £502,496 average
  • Terraced: down 3.9 per cent monthly; down 9.3 per cent annually; £396,748 average
  • Flats: down 2.7 per cent monthly; down 7.4 per cent annually; £273,115 average

How do property prices in Watford compare?

Buyers paid 12.1 per cent  more than the average price in the East of England (£335,000) in April for a property in Watford. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £578,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in Watford. St Albans properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£218,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Fact file:

Average property price in April:

  • Watford: £376,035
  • The East of England: £335,448
  • UK: £281,373

Annual change to April:

  • Watford: -8.6 per cent
  • The East of England: +0.4 per cent
  • UK: +1.1 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England:

  • East Cambridgeshire: +7.8 per cent
  • Watford: -8.6 per cent