Bedford house prices dropped slightly in June

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.2%, in Bedford in June, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 12.6% over the last year.

The average Bedford house price in June was £343,691, Land Registry figures show – a 0.2% decrease on May.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 0.5%, and Bedford was lower than the 1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £38,000 – putting the area 19th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But activity is starting to slow, with soaring inflation putting household budgets under pressure.

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £277,000 on their property – £30,000 more than a year ago, and £50,000 more than in June 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £393,000 on average in June – 42% more than first-time buyers.

PROPERTY TYPES

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Bedford in June – they dropped 0.8% in price, to £572,600 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 14.4%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 0% monthly; up 13.4% annually; £343,924 average

Terraced: up 0.4% monthly; up 11.9% annually; £268,535 average

Flats: up 0.1% monthly; up 7.9% annually; £179,253 average

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 3% less than the average price in the East of England (£354,000) in June for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £601,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in Bedford. Three Rivers properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£226,000 average), at the other end of the scale.