Dacorum house prices increased in September

House prices increased in Dacorum in September, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 4.6% annual growth.

The average Dacorum house price in September was £419,765, Land Registry figures show – a 1.9% increase on August.

Over the month, the picture was less good than that across the East of England, where prices increased 2.6%, but Dacorum outperformed the 1.7% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum rose by £18,000 – putting the area ninth among the East of England’s 47 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in South Norfolk, where properties increased on average by 8.9%, to £278,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Broxbourne dropped 3.1% in value, giving an average price of £348,000.

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Dacorum in September – they increased 2.7%, to £874,767 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 6.8%.

Among other types of property:

- Semi-detached: up 1.7% monthly; up 5.7% annually; £478,908 average

- Terraced: up 1.7% monthly; up 4.6% annually; £363,622 average

- Flats: up 1.8% monthly; up 1.7% annually; £262,977 average.

First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £​331,000 on their property – ​£13,000 more than a year ago, ​and ​£55,000 more than in Sep-15.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​494,000 on average in September​ – 49.0% more than first-time buyers.

Buyers paid 37.3% more than the average price in the East of England (£306,000) in September for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £245,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £530,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Dacorum.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average September sale price of £1.3 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).

​Factfile

Average property price in September:

- Dacorum: £419,765

- The East of England: £305,764

- UK: £244,513

Annual growth to September:

- Dacorum: +4.6%

- The East of England: +4.8%

- UK: +4.7%