House prices increased in Epping Forest in May, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 2.2 per cent annual growth.

The average Epping Forest house price in May was £471,364, Land Registry figures show – a 4.4 per cent increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices decreased 1.0 per cent, and Epping Forest outperformed the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Epping Forest rose by £10,000 – putting the area 13th among the East of England’s 45 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in South Norfolk, where properties increased on average by 7.6 per cent, to £279,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Broxbourne dropped 4.6 per cent in value, giving an average price of £335,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Epping Forest in May – they increased 4.7 per cent, to £291,532 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 0.7 per cent.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: up 4.1 per cent monthly; up 3.1 per cent annually; £898,359 average

• Semi-detached: up 4.6 per cent monthly; up 2.8 per cent annually; £531,502 average

• Terraced: up 4.1 per cent monthly; up 2.2 per cent annually; £398,965 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Epping Forest spent an average of £357,300 on their property – £6,000 more than a year ago, and £76,700 more than in May 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £564,000 on average in May – 57.9 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Epping Forest compare?

Buyers paid 62.2 per cent more than the average price in the East of England (£291,000) in May for a property in Epping Forest. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £236,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £508,000 on average, and 8 per cent in Epping Forest. Three Rivers properties cost three times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£172,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).

Factfile

Average property price in May

• Epping Forest: £471,364

• The East of England: £290,621

• UK: £235,673

Annual growth to May

• Epping Forest: +2.2 per cent

• The East of England: +0.7 per cent

• UK: +2.9 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the East of England

• South Norfolk: +7.6 per cent

• Broxbourne: -4.6 per cent

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