How much do first time buyers spend on homes in Chelmsford?
House prices dropped by 2.7% in Chelmsford in April, new figures show. But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 4.3% annual growth. The average Chelmsford house price in April was 349,531, Land Registry figures show  a 2.7% decrease on March. Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the East of England, where prices increased 0.3%, and Chelmsford underperformed compared to the 1.9% drop for the UK as a whole. Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Chelmsford rose by 14,000  putting the area 46th among the East of Englands 50 local authorities for annual growth. The best annual growth in the region was in Tendring, where property prices increased on average by 16.5%, to 254,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Welwyn Hatfield gained 2% in value, giving an average price of 404,000. For more Chelmsford news, visit our homepage or follow us on Facebook  Owners of semi-detached houses fared worst in Chelmsford in April  they dropped 2.7% in price, to 380,203 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 4.9%. Among other types of property:  Detached: down 2.6% monthly; up 5.2% annually; 611,483 average  Terraced: down 2.6% monthly; up 5.2% annually; 303,248 average  Flats: down 2.6% monthly; up 1.7% annually; 210,648 average  First-time buyers in Chelmsford spent an average of 287,000 on their property  11,000 more than a year ago, and 36,000 more than in April 2016. By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid 399,000 on average in April  38.9% more than first-time buyers. Buyers paid 11.3% more than the average price in the East of England (314,000) in April for a property in Chelmsford. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost 251,000. The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans  543,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Chelmsford. St Albans properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (186,000 average), at the other end of the scale. The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average April sale price of 1.1 million could buy 11 properties in East Ayrshire (average 105,000).