Cheshire East house prices - including Middlewich - dropped in April despite annual growth.

House prices dropped by 1.7 per cent in Cheshire East in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 9.6 per cent annual growth.

The average Cheshire East house price in April was £252,137, Land Registry figures show – a 1.7 per cent decrease on March.

In the last year, the average sale price of property in Cheshire East rose by £22,000 – putting the area 30th among the north west’s 43 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Eden, where property prices increased on average by 24.1 per cent, to £230,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Carlisle gained 3.2 per cent in value, giving an average price of £142,000.

Meanwhile, Cheshire West and Chester's prices - involving Winsford - in fact increased during April.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.3 per cent annual growth.

The average Cheshire West and Chester house price in April was £234,481, figures show – a 1.8 per cent increase on March.

Over the month, both pictures were better than that across the north west, where prices decreased 2.6 per cent and Cheshire West and Chester along with Cheshire East outperformed the 1.9 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cheshire West and Chester rose by £28,000 – putting the area 17th among the north west’s local authorities for annual growth.