House prices dropped by 2.2pc in East Suffolk in July, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 7.4pc annual growth.

The average East Suffolk house price in July was £265,706, Land Registry figures show – a 2.2pc decrease on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 3.8pc, and East Suffolk outperformed the 3.7pc drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in East Suffolk rose by £18,000 – putting the area 35th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

Owners of detached houses fared worst in East Suffolk in July, dropping 2.5pc in price to £143,439 on average.

Buyers, however, paid 14.9pc less than the average price in the East of England (£312,000) in July for a property in East Suffolk.