Bedford house prices increased in February with owners of terraced houses seeing biggest rise

House prices increased by 1.1% in Bedford in February, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 0.6% annual decline.

The average Bedford house price in February was £337,928, Land Registry figures show – a 1.1% increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 1.7%, but Bedford was above the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford fell by £2,000 – putting the area 12th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Babergh, where property prices increased on average by 7.6%, to £349,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Ipswich lost 10.1% of their value, giving an average price of £213,000.

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £274,300 on their property – £740 less than a year ago, but £41,410 more than in February 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £382,620 on average in February – 39.5% more than first-time buyers.

PROPERTY TYPES

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Bedford in February – they increased 1.2%, to £266,133 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1% monthly; down 0.1% annually; £548,876 average

Semi-detached: up 1.2% monthly; up 0.4% annually; £342,652 average

Flats: up 1.2% monthly; down 2.7% annually; £178,407 average

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid roughly the same as the average price in the East of England (£339,000) in February for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £589,000 on average, and 1.7 times the price as in Bedford. St Albans properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£206,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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