House prices dropped by 1.8 per cent – more than the average for the North West – in the Cumberland council area in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 3.3 per cent over the last year.

The average Cumberland house price in February was £168,149, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8 per cent decrease on January.

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Over the month, the picture was different to that across the North West, where prices decreased 0.2 per cent, and Cumberland was lower than the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

First-time buyers in Cumberland spent an average of £143,700 on their property – £4,600 more than a year ago, and £27,100 more than in February 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £192,200 on average in February – 33.8 per cent more than first-time buyers.