Colchester saw a greater increase in house prices than any other area in the East of England in February, according to new figures.

Data from the UK House Price Index found that across the East of England house prices increased by 1.3 per cent – but in Colchester, prices increased by 2.2 per cent for February.

On an annual basis, Colchester property values rose by £34,000 over the past year.
Although beneficial for homeowners, those attempting to get on the property ladder now have a more difficult time buying their first house as a result of the increases, with first-time buyers in Colchester spending an average of £258,000 on their property.

This is significantly more than in previous years – first-time buyers in Colchester paid £231,000 for their first house in 2021, and £188,000 in 2017.

Statistics for Tendring’s first-time buyers were slightly more encouraging, with buyers likely to spend £224,000 on their first home – though this is up from the £197,000 average taken from this time last year.

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But compared to the rest of the East of England – and the rest of the UK – house prices in Tendring are relatively affordable.

The average price of homes throughout Britain sits at £276,755, but in Tendring, the average price of a house is £267,953.

Overall, owners of detached houses in Colchester were very much the winners according to the UK House Price Index’s data, as it was they who saw the biggest increase in the value of their property.

In February, prices of detached houses in Colchester increased by 2.4 per cent to an average price of £526,859.

Annually, the area in the East of England which has seen the biggest annual growth in property value has been Broadland, in Norfolk, where prices increased on average by 19.6 per cent to £333,000.

Watford, which is classed as being in the East of England according to the House Price Index, saw the lowest annual growth in property value, with house prices nudging up just 2.1 per cent.