Croydon house prices dropped more than London average in March

House prices dropped by 1.9% – more than the average for London – in Croydon in March, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2% over the last year.

The average Croydon house price in March was £417,019, Land Registry figures show – a 1.9% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across London, where prices decreased 1.7%, and Croydon was lower than the 1.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Croydon rose by £8,100 – putting the area 24th among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Tower Hamlets, where property prices increased on average by 11%, to £510,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Westminster lost 17.4% of their value, giving an average price of £876,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Croydon spent an average of £346,700 on their property – £6,200 more than a year ago, and £35,700 more than in March 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £503,100 on average in March – 45.1% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Croydon in March – they dropped 2.5% in price, to £417,038 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 1.9%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.4% monthly; up 2.1% annually; £909,874 average
• Semi-detached: down 1.7% monthly; up 2.2% annually; £579,397 average
• Flats: down 1.7% monthly; up 1.6% annually; £286,065 average

How do property prices in Croydon compare?

Buyers paid 20.3% less than the average price in London (£523,000) in March for a property in Croydon. Across London, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £285,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.3 million on average, and 3.2 times as much as more than in Croydon. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.8 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£347,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in E09000020.

Factfile

Average property price in March

• Croydon: £417,019
• London:£523,325
• UK: £285,009

Annual growth to March

• Croydon: +2%
• London: +1.5%
• UK: +4.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

• Tower Hamlets: +11%
• Westminster: -17.4%