Luton house prices increased more than average - with first time buyers now spending £35k more than 5 years ago

The average Luton house price in August was £272,220.

Land Registry figures show a 2.8 per cent increase on July, while prices increased 1 per cent across the East of England, and 1.5 per cent for the UK as a whole.

First-time buyers in Luton spent an average of £240,490 on their property – £600 less than a year ago, but £35,310 more than in August 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £309,220 on average in August – 28.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 0.4 per cent annual decline.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Luton fell by £1,200 – putting the area 29th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Broxbourne, where property prices increased on average by 8 per cent, to £406,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Castle Point lost 6.8 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £350,000.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Luton in August – they increased 3.3 per cent, to £150,588 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.3 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 2.2 per cent monthly; down 1.4 per cent annually; £460,180 average

Semi-detached: up 2.7 per cent monthly; up 0.2 per cent annually; £320,194 average

Terraced: up 3.1 per cent monthly; down 0.5 per cent annually; £256,392 average

How do property prices in Luton compare?

Buyers paid 20.9 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£344,000) in August for a property in Luton. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £293,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £589,000 on average, and 2.2 times the price as in Luton. St Albans properties cost 2.8 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£213,000 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 August

Luton: £272,220

The East of England: £344,190

UK: £292,924

Annual change to August

Luton: -0.4 per cent

The East of England: +1.4 per cen

tUK: +2.8 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England

Broxbourne: +8 per cent

Castle Point: -6.8 per cent