Bedford house prices increased slightly in October

House prices increased slightly, by 0.6 per cent, in Bedford in October, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, where property prices in the area have achieved 1.6 per cent annual growth.

The average Bedford house price in October was £290,984, Land Registry figures show – a 0.6 per cent increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 0.9 per cent, but Bedford underperformed compared to the 0.7 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £4,600 – putting the area 39th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in North Hertfordshire, where property prices increased on average by 9.8 per cent, to £370,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Luton lost 2.7 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £227,000.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Bedford in October – they increased 0.9 per cent, to £476,739 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 2.7 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 0.6 per cent monthly; up 2.4 per cent annually; £290,239 average

Terraced: up 0.6 per cent monthly; up 1.8 per cent annually; £227,380 average

Flats: remained level over the month; down 2.7 per cent annually; £158,876 average

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £235,000 on their property – £2,400 more than a year ago, and £45,600 more than in September 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £331,400 on average in October – 41.0 per cent more than first-time buyers.

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 3.2 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£301,000) in October for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £245,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £527,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Bedford. St Albans properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£176,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average October sale price of £1.3million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £93,000).