Luton house prices increased in February, new figures show

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 4.9% annual growth.

The average Luton house price in February was £242,370, Land Registry figures show – a 1.1% increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices dropped by 0.9%. Luton also outperformed the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Luton rose by £11,000 – putting the area 36th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Tendring, where property prices increased on average by 11.6%, to £239,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Stevenage gained 0.4% in value, giving an average price of £280,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Luton in February – they increased 1.8%, to £138,158 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.9%.

Among other types of property:

> Detached: up 0.8% monthly; up 6.5% annually; £419,967 average

> Semi-detached: up 1.1% monthly; up 5.9% annually; £283,139 average

> Terraced: up 1.1% monthly; up 6% annually; £228,077 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Luton spent an average of £213,400 on their property – £9,400 more than a year ago, and £29,700 more than in January 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £277,100 on average in February – 29.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Luton compare?

Buyers paid 20.9% less than the average price in the East of England (£306,000) in February for a property in Luton. Across the East of England, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £250,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £555,000 on average, and 2.3 times as much as in Luton. St Albans properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£188,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average February sale price of £1.2 million could buy 13 properties in Hyndburn (average £92,000).