Bedford house prices dropped more than East of England average, according to latest figures

House prices dropped by 1.6% – more than the average for the East of England – in Bedford in May, latest figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 1.1% over the last year.

The average Bedford house price in May was £345,259, Land Registry figures show – a 1.6% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices decreased 0.8%, and Bedford was lower than the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £3,800 – putting the area 27th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in East Cambridgeshire, where property prices increased on average by 12.1%, to £367,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Great Yarmouth lost 4.2% of their value, giving an average price of £205,000.

FIRST STEPS ON THE LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £277,200 on their property – £3,500 more than a year ago, and £42,000 more than in May 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £395,100 on average in May – 42.5% more than first-time buyers.

PROPERTY TYPES

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Bedford in May – they dropped 1.7% in price, to £579,730 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 1.9%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 1.7% monthly; up 1.1% annually; £346,405 average

Terraced: down 1.4% monthly; up 0.5% annually; £267,130 average

Flats: down 1.5% monthly; up 0.2% annually; £178,384 average

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid roughly the same as the average price in the East of England (£346,000) in May for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £588,000 on average, and 1.7 times the price as in Bedford. Three Rivers properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£205,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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