Watford house prices have continued their monthly rise although they were outstripped by the East of England average.

The average property values in the town increased by 0.3 per cent to £394,261 in July, according to Land Registry figures, up from £393,023 in June.

Prices continue to bounce back since they slumped to £376,035 in April, and the town has seen values grow by 1.3 per cent over the last year.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the East of England, where prices increased 0.7 per cent, and Watford was also lower than the 0.6 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Watford rose by £5,200 – putting the area 24th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First-time buyers in spent an average of £350,700 on their property, which was £6,300 more than a year ago and £39,100 more than in July 2019.

In comparison, people already on the housing ladder paid an average of £449,900 in July, or 28.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Detached houses saw the largest fall as prices dropped 0.5 per cent to £913,141 on average, mirroring an overall 1.5 per cent drop in the last 12 months.

Semi-detached and terraced properties also saw monthly decreases of 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, while flat values rose by 0.2 per cent on June. 

How do property prices in Watford compare?

Buyers paid 15.6 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£341,000) in July for a property in Watford. Across the East of England, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average is £290,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in St Albans – £584,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in Watford. St Albans properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Great Yarmouth (£216,000 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 July

  • Watford: £394,261
  • The East of England: £341,160
  • UK: £289,723

Annual growth to July

  • Watford: +1.3 per cent
  • The East of England: +0.3 per cent
  • UK: +2.2 per cent

Highest and lowest annual growth in the East of England

South Cambridgeshire: +5.8 per cent
Maldon: -5.3 per cent