HOUSE prices in Colchester are bucking the national trend and grew by 1.1 per cent to March, new figures have revealed.

Land Registry figures show the average house price in the town in March was £264,734, an increase from 261,822 the month before.

Across the east of England, prices remained static, but nationally there was a downtown of an average of 0.2 per cent.

Over the past 12 months, the average sale price of a home in the town rose by £3,400 - putting it in the top 20 areas in the east.

David Boyden, managing director of Boydens estate agents, said there had been strong demand from both buyers and sellers at the start of the year although the impact of Covid-19 is now starting to take its toll.

“With the election and Brexit seen off, signs were the market was going to kick on,” he said.

“We saw strong demand in the early part of the year which started it off strongly.

“Stability had returned to the market and there were some encouraging signs but things changed with the coronavirus outbreak.”

Estate agents across the UK have been allowed to reopen but there are new restrictions on how work takes place.

Many forecasters are expecting the market to fall over the coming months as part of a national recession caused by the pandemic.

Mr Boyden said too early to make predictions, but some of the initial signs were encouraging.

“The rental side of things seems strong,” he said. “People have been active in the first few days since we opened. The market could decline but it won’t be purely down to Covid. It will be other factors such as people being concerned about job prospects.

“Unless you have a crystal ball you cannot call it at the moment. Expectation generally is any fall in the market will pick up again next year.”