St Albans; house prices increased slightly by 0.1 per cent in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 3.4 per cent over the last year.

The average St Albans house price in April was £577,876. Land Registry figures show a 0.1 per cent increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices decreased 0.7 per cent, but St Albans was lower than the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

In the last year, the average sale price of property in St Albans rose by £19,000 – putting the area fifth among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in East Cambridgeshire, where property prices increased on average by 7.8 per cent, to £351,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Watford lost 8.6 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £376,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in St Albans spent an average of £438,000 on their property – £14,000 more than a year ago, and £56,000 more than in April 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £691,000 on average in April – 58 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in St Albans in April – they increased 0.2 per cent, to £312,967 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.8 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.1 per cent monthly; up 2.1 per cent annually; £1,122,000 average

Semi-detached: up 0.2 per cent monthly; up 4.3 per cent annually; £700,122 average

Terraced: down 0.1 per cent monthly; up 5 per cent annually; £517,779 average

How do property prices in St Albans compare?

Buyers paid more for properties in St Albans than anywhere else in the East of England in April. The average price paid would buy 2.7 homes in Great Yarmouth (£218,000), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £281,000.

Factfile

Average property price in April

St Albans: £577,876

The East of England: £335,448

UK: £281,373

Annual growth to April

St Albans: +3.4 per cent

The East of England: +0.4 per cent

UK: +1.1 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England

East Cambridgeshire: +7.8 per cent

Watford: -8.6 per cent