This is what the pandemic has done to house prices in Bedford

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House prices dropped slightly in Bedford in March, new figures show.

​The ​drop ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​suffer a 0.9 per cent annual decline​.

The average Bedford house price in March was £283,674, Land Registry figures show​ – a 0.8 per cent decrease on February.

Bedford house prices dropped slightly in MarchBedford house prices dropped slightly in March
Bedford house prices dropped slightly in March

Over the month, the picture was ​worse than that across the East of England, where prices ​remained static​, and Bedford underperformed compared to the 0.2 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford ​​remained level – putting the ​area 28th among the East of England’s 47 local authorities for annual growth.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Bedford in March – they dropped 1.3 per cent in price, to £219,317 on average​. Over the last year, prices dropped by 0.9 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.4 per cent monthly; down 0.6 per cent annually; £463,502 average

Semi-detached: down 0.7 per cent monthly; down 0.1 per cent annually; £282,449 average

Flats: down 0.9 per cent monthly; down 2.9 per cent annually; £159,273 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £​230,100 on their property – ​£2,500 less than a year ago, ​and ​£47,900 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​321,700 on average in March​ – 39.8 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Bedford compare?

Buyers paid 2.6 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£291,000) in March for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £512,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Bedford. Three Rivers properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£169,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £86,000).

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