A closer look at Cambridge house prices

It has recently been announced that the average house price for a semi-detached dwelling in the UK has broken through the £250,000 mark for the first time. There is no doubt that both sales values and confidence in bricks and mortar is on the up. No greater is that recognised than in Cambridge, house prices in the area have been on a steady upward trend and the City has probably one of the strongest residential markets outside of the capital.

Although recent Land Registry data shows a marked difference in rises, average Cambridge house prices can be distorted due to large disparities in properties within certain postcodes and a general lack of activity in the city due to restricted supply. Across the board, all postcodes within Cambridge CB1 – CB5 have shown healthy price rises against a stronger sales volume, but this spike in activity has in my opinion been driven by new build developments.

When analysing in greater detail all regions have enjoyed notable house price growth from March to April, with some postcodes reporting increases of up to 40%, these levels in gains however would clearly be unsustainable year on year let alone month on month.

These figures have occurred due to certain areas of the city being disproportionately influenced by large new housing schemes. For instance CB5 which includes the Newmarket Road area east of the city where housing is more affordable has shown a 40% increase. Traditionally a mixed use area predominately comprising small terraced housing this area now includes Cambridge Riverside a prestigious scheme overlooking the Cam. In this scheme, house prices range from small studios at £210,000 to larger duplex apartments at over £800,000.

In addition the CB2 postcode covers a large area from Hills Road in central Cambridge to new build schemes in Trumpington 3 miles from the city which also serves to provide an imbalance.

In general terms, activity among Cambridge house prices is buoyant in the city itself, fuelled by the demand from both investors and owner occupiers whereas in the regions price rises fluctuate and are more aligned with regional growth.