Bedford house prices increased in October - outperforming rest of UK

House prices increased by 2.7 per cent in Bedford in October, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.3 per cent annual growth.

The average Bedford house price in October was £327,512, Land Registry figures show – a 2.7 per cent increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 0.1 per cent, and Bedford outperformed the 1.1 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £38,000 – putting the area 11th 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, Essex, where property prices increased on average by 21 per cent, to £400,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Uttlesford gained just 2.4 per cent in value, giving an average price of £424,000.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Bedford in October – they increased 3.5 per cent, to £547,096 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 15.9 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 2.4 per cent monthly; up 13.3 per cent annually; £326,162 average

Terraced: up 2.2 per cent monthly; up 11.5 per cent annually; £252,532 average

Flats: up 2.1 per cent monthly; up 10.6 per cent annually; £175,846 average

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £263,000 on their property – £29,000 more than a year ago, and £44,000 more than in October 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £375,000 on average in October – 42.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 1.4 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£332,000) in October for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £268,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £561,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in Bedford. Three Rivers properties cost 2.7 times as much 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.