Dacorum house prices increased in March

New figures from the Land Registry show house prices increased in Dacorum in March.

​The ​boost ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 4 per cent annual growth​.

The average Dacorum house price in March was £409,308, Land Registry figures show​ – a 1 per cent increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was ​better than that across the East of England, where prices ​remained static​, and Dacorum outperformed the 0.2 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dacorum ​​rose by £16,000 – putting the ​area eighth among the East of England’s 47 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Uttlesford, where properties increased on average by 6.2 per cent, to £418,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in King's Lynn and West Norfolk dropped 5.6 per cent in value, giving an average price of £204,000.

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Dacorum in March – they increased by 1.5 per cent, to £466,677 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 5.1 per cent.

Among other types of property:

- Detached: up 1.3% monthly; up 4.6% annually; £844,219 average

- Terraced: up 0.7% monthly; up 4.3% annually; £352,377 average

- Flats: up 0.9% monthly; up 2.4% annually; £261,430 average

First-time buyers in Dacorum spent an average of £​325,000 on their property – ​£12,000 more than a year ago, ​and ​£69,000 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​479,000 on average in March​ – 47.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Dacorum compare?

​Buyers paid 40.5 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£291,000) in March for a property in Dacorum. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £512,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Dacorum. Three Rivers properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£169,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

​The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £86,000).

Jonathan Webb, branch manager of Imagine Estate Agents and Lettings Agents - Hemel Hempstead, said: "Before lockdown the asking prices were at a high, which was positive news post Brexit.

"Then the market went into lockdown for eight weeks, but over the last few days we have seen a spike in activity and are having 30 to 40 viewings booked a day.

"The market is good, it is early stages but we have not seen house prices going down."

Factfile

Average property price in March:

- Dacorum: £409,308

- The East of England: £291,254

- UK: £231,855

Annual growth to March:

- Dacorum: +4.0 per cent

The East of England: +1.6 per cent

UK: +2.1 per cent