Property prices in St Albans increased by 0.5 per cent in October

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average property in St Albans sold for £527,089; while the UK average was a price of £231,095.

The increase in the average property price in the East of England over the last year is 0.6 per cent less than the whole of the UK. Fewer houses are being sold in St Albans, with an eight per cent drop in the number sold between September 2017 and August 2018 from the same period a year before.

St Albans is the 18th most expensive local authority in the UK with regards to house prices. While good news for homeowners, whose property has increased in value by an average of £156,000 in the last five years, this makes buying significantly harder for new buyers. Those who bought their first property in October spent roughly £121,000 more than it would have cost them five years ago.

House prices across the UK have seen an increase of 2.7 per cent in the last 12 months to October, but the rate of increase is slowing down.

Research analyst at estate agents Savills, Frances Clacy, cited “the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s negotiations for leaving the EU” as a major factor in the deceleration, as well as “tighter lending criteria and increases to mortgage regulation”, the result of which makes it harder for buyers to borrow against their incomes.