Owners of terraced houses see biggest improvement in Bedford property prices

House prices increased by 2% – more than the average for the East of England – in Bedford in January, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 12.6% annual growth.

The average Bedford house price in January was £332,096, Land Registry figures show – a 2% increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices increased 1.4%, and Bedford outperformed the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £37,000 – putting the area 22nd among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Maldon, where property prices increased on average by 20.7%, to £419,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Watford lost 2.7% of their value, giving an average price of £355,000.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Bedford in January – they increased 2.2%, to £255,640 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 10.4%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.7% monthly; up 16% annually; £558,166 average

Semi-detached: up 2.1% monthly; up 12.9% annually; £331,404 average

Flats: up 1.9% monthly; up 8.2%; £175,566 average

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £266,000 on their property – £27,000 more than a year ago, and £46,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £381,000 on average in January – 43.4% more than first-time buyers.

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 2.8% less than the average price in the East of England (£342,000) in January for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £274,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £563,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as Bedford.