Bedford house prices dropped slightly in May

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

​The ​drop ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​suffer a 2.0 per cent annual decline​.

The average Bedford house price in May was £283,436, Land Registry figures show​ – a 0.8 per cent decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was ​similar to that across the East of England, where prices ​decreased 1.0 per cent​, but Bedford underperformed compared to the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford ​​remained level – putting the ​area 42nd among the East of England’s 45 local authorities for annual growth.

​Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Bedford in May – they dropped 1.1 per cent in price, to £219,284 on average​. Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.5 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.8 per cent monthly; down 1.2 per cent annually; £463,523 average

Semi-detached: down 0.7 per cent monthly; down 1.4 per cent annually; £282,031 average

Flats: down 0.6 per cent monthly; down 3.8 per cent annually; £158,879 average

​First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £​230,000 on their property – ​£5,100 less than a year ago, ​and ​£46,700 more than in May 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​321,300 on average in May​ – 39.7 per cent more than first-time buyers.

​How do property prices in Bedford compare?

Buyers paid 40.8 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£479,000) 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 £236,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £508,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Bedford. Three Rivers properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£172,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).