Bedford house prices dropped slightly in July - with owners of detached houses faring worst

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.9 per cent, in Bedford in July, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 10.1 per cent annual growth.

The average Bedford house price in July was £309,120, Land Registry figures show – a 0.9 per cent decrease on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 3.8 per cent, and Bedford outperformed the 3.7 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £28,000 – putting the area 12th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in North Norfolk, where property prices increased on average by 15.5 per cent, to £284,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Norwich gained 1.3 per cent in value, giving an average price of £210,000.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Owners of detached houses fared worst in Bedford in July – they dropped 1.3 per cent in price, to £308,507 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 11.2 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 0.5 per cent monthly; up 10.3 per cent annually; £308,507 average

Terraced: down 1 per cent monthly; up 10.3 per cent annually; £241,819 average

Flats: down 0.7 per cent monthly; up 7.3 per cent annually; £168,637 average

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £250,000 on their property – £22,000 more than a year ago, and £37,000 more than in July 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £352,000 on average in July – 40.9 per cent more than first-time buyers.

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 0.9 per cent% less than the average price in the East of England (£312,000) in July for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £550,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Bedford. St Albans properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£192,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average July sale price of £1.3 million could buy 13 properties in Burnley (average £101,000).