Luton house prices outpace East of England average
House prices in Luton increased in August, rising more than the average across the East of England, new figures show.
Housing market experts said growing uncertainty around the autumn Budget has had an impact on sellers' sentiment across the UK.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average Luton house price in the year to August was £285,175 – a 1.9 per cent increase on July.
It was higher the average across the East of England, where prices increased by 0.8 per cent.
The rise in Luton contributes to the longer-term trend in the area, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.2 per cent over the last year.
It means the area ranked 18th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities for annual growth, with the average price in Luton rising by £11,000 over the past year.
The highest annual growth in the East of England was in Maldon, where property prices increased on average by 13.3 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, properties in Broxbourne lost 1.1 per cent of their value.
Across the UK average house prices increased 3 per cent in the year to August, reaching £273,000 typically.
The rate of annual growth slowed from 3.2 per cent in the 12 months to July.
However this varied greatly across English regions.
While average house prices rose 6.6 per cent across the North East for instance, London was the only region where they fell, by 0.3 per cent.
The figures were released as the ONS said Consumer Prices Index inflation was 3.8 per cent in September, remaining at the same level as both July and August.
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: "A decade-high level of homes this year has limited the growth of house prices compared to last year.
"Buyers have more choice and more negotiating power, and we’re seeing more realism from sellers about the prices they can set to find a buyer amongst the competition.
"However, prices are holding up more strongly in the north of England, Wales and Scotland, where more affordable price points means that changes to stamp duty charges from April have had less of an impact."
Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland.