NEW figures have revealed house prices in Tendring dropped by more than 4 per cent in January.

Land Registry statistics show the average price for a Tendring home in January was £211,421 - a 4.3 per cent decrease on December.

Flat owners fared the worst in the district in January - they dropped 4.6 per cent in price to £118,927 on average.

Over the past year, prices dropped by 8.8 per cent.

First-time buyers in Tendring spent an average of £178,000 in their property - £12,000 less than a year ago and £37,000 more than in January 2015.

A spokesman for Land Registry said: "Buyers paid 26.3 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£287,000) in January for a property in Tendring.

"Across the East of England, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £231,000.

"The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £513,000 on average, and 2.4 times as much as in Tendring."

Over the past year the average sale price of property in the Tendring remained level, putting the area 45th among the East of England's 47 local authorities for annual growth.