Mixed news on property prices

The average selling price of properties in Hertfoird fell 6% in July compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Land Registry.

The average price for all property types was £467,632 in July 2018, compared to £495.197. However, direct comparisoin is hard given that 45 properties were sold in July of this year compared to 70 last year.

Sales were made up of 11 flats, 11 semi-detatched houses, 18 terraced properties and 5 detached houses. 

Average selling prices have varied over the last two years, ranging from as low as £356,787 in September 2018 to as high as £488,906 in April this year.

We looked at the pictures painted by two house price websites, Rightmove and Zoopla.

Zoopla's Z-Index shows an average property price of £510,921, an increase of 3% compared to last year. Zoopla's analysis says:

The average price for property in Hertford stood at £510,921 in October 2019. This is a rise of 1.12% in the last three months (since July 2019) and rise of 3.03% since 12 months ago. In terms of property types, flats in Hertford sold for an average of £281,972 and terraced houses for £419,832. This is according to the current Zoopla estimates.

Over at Rightmove, the analysis is different, with the property portal showing a 5% increase in selling prices:

Last year most property sales in Hertford involved terraced properties which sold for on average £422,071. Flats sold for an average price of £265,988, while semi-detached properties fetched £524,824.

Hertford, with an overall average price of £464,794, was similar in terms of sold prices to nearby Hertford Heath (£482,375), but was more expensive than Ware (£382,780) and cheaper than Bengeo (£579,050).

During the last year, sold prices in Hertford were 5% up on the previous year and 17% up on 2016 when the average house price was £398,400.

Changing volumes and the nature of the housing market make it hard to pick out a trend in property prices, especially given the current uncertainty over Brexit.