Central Bedfordshire house prices rise again - with first time buyers now paying £17k more than a year ago

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 5.9 per cent over the last year.

The average Central Bedfordshire house price in August was £362,303. Land Registry figures show a 2 per cent increase on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 1 per cent, and Central Bedfordshire was above the 1.5 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Central Bedfordshire rose by £20,000 – putting the area third among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Broxbourne, where property prices increased on average by 8 per cent, to £406,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Castle Point lost 6.8 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £350,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Central Bedfordshire spent an average of £295,000 on their property – £17,000 more than a year ago, and £48,000 more than in August 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £411,000 on average in August – 39.1 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Central Bedfordshire in August – they increased 2.3 per cent, to £188,621 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 3.5 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.5 per cent monthly; up 6.7 per cent annually; £596,666 average

Semi-detached: up 2 per cent monthly; up 7.1 per cent annually; £377,702 average

Terraced: up 2.2 per cent monthly; up 4.8 per cent annually; £306,653 average

How do property prices in Central Bedfordshire compare?

Buyers paid 5.3 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£344,000) in August for a property in Central Bedfordshire. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £293,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £589,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in Central Bedfordshire. St Albans properties cost 2.8 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£213,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in August

Central Bedfordshire: £362,303

The East of England: £344,190

UK: £292,924

Annual growth to August

Central Bedfordshire: +5.9 per cent

The East of England: +1.4 per cent

UK: +2.8 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England

Broxbourne: +8 per cent

Castle Point: -6.8 per cent