COLCHESTER house prices increased slightly in the month of January, despite the average sale price of properties in the city falling by £16,000 in the last year.

Land Registry figures show the price of an average house in Colchester this January was £305,393, up 0.4 per cent in December.

However, this increase is still lower than the UK’s January average which was a rise of 0.5 per cent and lower than the East of England average which was an increase of 1.2 per cent.

Colchester buyers paid 9.2 per cent less than the average price compared to the East of England, or £337,000, but more than the UK average property price in January, which was £282,000.

First-time buyers in Colchester paid £259,000 on average in January - £13,000 less than January 2023, but £34,000 more than on average in January 2019.

Colchester was also ranked 33 out of 45 local authorities in the East of England with known data for annual growth.

East Cambridgeshire had the highest yearly growth, with a 9.1 per cent increase to £352,000.

Ranked at the bottom of the region was Ipswich which had seen the average property lose 11.3 per cent of its value, resulting in an average price of £213,000.