Dacorum house prices increased in October

House prices increased by 2.1 per cent in Dacorum in October, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 7.9 per cent annual growth.

The average Dacorum house price in October was £446,406, Land Registry figures show – a 2.1 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 Dacorum outperformed the 1.1 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum rose by £33,000 – putting the area 34th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Dacorum in October – they increased 2.7 per cent, to £949,584 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 10.4 per cent.

Among other types of property:

> Semi-detached: up 2.2 per cent monthly; up 8.7 per cent annually; £513,112 average

> Terraced: up 2.2 per cent monthly; up 7.8 per cent annually; £386,986 average

> Flats: up 1.3 per cent monthly; up 4.1 per cent annually; £270,306 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £350,000 on their property – £23,000 more than a year ago, and £36,000 more than in October 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £528,000 on average in October – 50.7 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Dacorum compare?

Buyers paid 34.4 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£332,000) in October for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to 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 1.3 times as much as more than in Dacorum. 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.

Factfile

Average property price in October:

> Dacorum: £446,406

> The East of England: £332,216

> UK: £268,349

Annual growth to October:

> Dacorum: +7.9 per cent

> The East of England: +11.2 per cent

> UK: +10.2 per cent.