Bedford house prices increased more than East of England average in May

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.3% over the last year.

The average Bedford house price in May was £349,571. Land Registry figures show a 1.4% increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 0.6%, and Bedford was above the 1.2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £14,000 – putting the area sixth 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 10.1%, to £358,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Hertsmere lost 11.8% of their value, giving an average price of £452,000.

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £283,000 on their property – £12,000 more than a year ago, and £48,000 more than in May 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £397,000 on average in May – 40.1% more than first-time buyers.

PROPERTY TYPES

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Bedford in May – they increased 1.7%, to £566,998 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.4%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 1.4% monthly; up 5.2% annually; £354,052 average

Terraced: up 1.2% monthly; up 4.3% annually; £275,159 average

Flats: up 1.2% monthly; up 1.9% annually; £185,318 average

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 3.5% more than the average price in the East of England (£338,000) in May for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £570,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in Bedford. St Albans properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£214,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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