Buckinghamshire becomes a house sales hotspot after rise in property prices

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 7% annual growth.

The average Buckinghamshire house price in March was £425,849, Land Registry figures show – a 1% increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South East, where prices increased 0.9%, but Buckinghamshire underperformed compared to the 1.8% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Buckinghamshire rose by £28,000 – putting the area 36th among the South East’s 70 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Lewes, where property prices increased on average by 13.8%, to £357,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Hart lost 0.1% of their value, giving an average price of £408,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Buckinghamshire in March – they increased 1.3%, to £333,342 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 7.9%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.1% monthly; up 8.1% annually; £765,652 average

Semi-detached: up 1.1% monthly; up 7.5% annually; £417,693 average

Flats: up 0.6% monthly; up 3.3% annually; £228,429 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Buckinghamshire spent an average of £316,000 on their property – £18,000 more than a year ago, and £39,000 more than in March 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £506,000 on average in March – 59.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Buckinghamshire compare?

Buyers paid 22.2% more than the average price in the South East (£349,000) in March for a property in Buckinghamshire. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £662,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Buckinghamshire. Elmbridge properties cost three times as much as homes in Southampton (£219,000 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 £1.3 million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £94,000).

Factfile

Average property price in March

Buckinghamshire: £425,849

The South East: £348,615

UK: £256,405

Annual growth to March

Buckinghamshire: +7%

The South East: +7.9%

UK: +10.2%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Lewes: +13.8%

Hart: -0.1%