House prices in AL5 1 (Harpenden)

This article reveals price per square metre data and various charts to help you understand current housing market in 'AL5 1' (Harpenden) - statistics were last calculated on 30 June 2024.

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Defining 'AL5 1'

This analysis is limited to properties whose postcode starts with "AL5 1", this is also called the postcode sector. It is shown in red on the map above. There are no official names for postcode sectors so I've just labelled it Harpenden.

You can click on the map labels to change to a neighbouring sector, or you can enter a different postcode sector (e.g. CM23 4) below.

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FYI, a postcode sector is the full postcode without the last two letters.

Price per square metre

Knowing the average house price in Harpenden is not much use. However, knowing average price per square metre can be quite useful. Price per sqm allows some comparison between properties of different size. We define price per square metre as the sold price divided by the internal area of a property:

£ per sqm = price ÷ internal area

E.g. 13, Gibbs Close, Harpenden, sold for £980,000 on Apr-2024. Given the internal area of 136 square metres, the price per sqm is £7,205.

England & Wales have been officially metric since 1965. However house price per square foot is prefered by some estate agents and those of sufficiently advanced age ;-) They may want to convert square meters on this page to square feet.

The chart below is called a histogram, it helps you see the distribution of this house price per sqm data. To make this chart we put the sales data into a series of £ per sqm 'buckets' (e.g. £7,600-£8,000, £8,000-£8,400, £8,400-£8,800 etc...) we then count the number of sales with within in each bucket and plot the results. The chart is based on 160 sales in Harpenden (AL5 1) that took place in the last two years.

You can see the spread of prices above. This is because although internal area is a key factor in determining valuation, it is not the only factor. Many factors other than size affect desirability; these factors could be condition, aspect, garden size, negotiating power of the vendor etc.

The spread of prices will give you a feel of the typical range to expect in Harpenden (AL5 1). Of the 160 transactions, half were sold for between £5,990 and £7,710 per square metre. The median, or 'middle', price per square metre in 'AL5 1' is £6,890. Notably, only 25% of properties that sold recently were valued at more than £7,710 sqm. For anything to be valued more than this means it has to be more desireable than the clear majority of homes.

Price map for Harpenden

Do have a look at the interactive price map I created. I find it useful and I am sure it will help you in exploring Harpenden. You can zoom in all the way to individual properties and then all the way back out to see the whole country. The colours show the current estimated property values.

House price heatmap for Harpenden

Comparison with neighbouring postcode sectors

The table below shows how 'AL5 1' compares to neighbouring postcode sectors.

Postcode sector	Lower quartile	Middle quartile	Upper quartile
AL5 5 Harpenden	£5,820 sqm	£6,690 sqm	£7,800 sqm
AL5 1 Harpenden	£5,990 sqm	£6,890 sqm	£7,710 sqm
AL5 3 Harpenden	£5,500 sqm	£6,690 sqm	£7,990 sqm
AL5 4 Harpenden	£5,580 sqm	£6,730 sqm	£7,870 sqm
AL5 2 Harpenden	£7,050 sqm	£8,170 sqm	£9,260 sqm

Will Harpenden house prices drop in 2024?

I cannot tell the future and don't believe anyone who says they can. I can however plot price trends - I have done this in the chart below for AL5 1 (Harpenden) compared with both the wider area AL5 and inflation (CPIH from the Office of National Statistics). The dashed trend lines in the chart show the average over time.

Download time series data as CSV (paying users only).

For the most recent sales activity, rather than a summarized average, it is better to see the underlying data. This is shown in the chart below, where blue dots represent individual sales, click on them to see details. If there is an obvious trend you should be able to spot it here amid the noise from outliers.

Data from Land Registry comes in gradually over time. I update it every month but it takes about 5 months for the majority of sales for Harpenden to be recorded. Disclaimer: I do not verify and cannot guarantee the accuracy of any data shown. Outliers exist in the data, typically these are where the EPC registry records the internal area incorrectly, sometimes although very rarely the Land Registry price paid data can be wrong. The data provided throughout this website about Harpenden and any other area, is not financial advice. Any information provided does not and cannot ever take in to account the particular financial situation, objectives or property needs of either you or anyone reading this information.

Street level data

Street	Avg size	Avg £sqm	Recent sales
Piggottshill Lane, Harpenden, AL5 1L	120 sqm	£6,526	25
Cravells Road, Harpenden, AL5 1B	81 sqm	£7,467	21
Meadway, Harpenden, AL5 1J	149 sqm	£7,156	18
Coleswood Road, Harpenden, AL5 1E	103 sqm	£6,151	17
Southdown Road, Harpenden, AL5 1Q	57 sqm	£5,319	16
Eastmoor Park, Harpenden, AL5 1B	128 sqm	£5,996	15
Grove Avenue, Harpenden, AL5 1E	118 sqm	£7,117	13
Grove Road, Harpenden, AL5 1H	61 sqm	£7,283	10

Search for your street here.

New build activity

Street	Avg size	Avg £sqm	New build sales
Gibbs Close, Harpenden, AL5 1F	137 sqm	£6,340	23

Gibbs Close, Harpenden, AL5 1F has seen 23 new build sales in the last 4 years (average price £871,185). These new build homes typically have an internal area of 137 sqm, with an average price of £6,340 sqm. This £sqm average is £-550 below the average for AL5 1. New builds typically command a £ per sqm premium. In the case of Gibbs Close the premium seems not to exist. Without more info we can only speculate why this may be. Perhaps it may be greater density and smaller gardens, but this is just a guess.

Raw data

Our analysis of Harpenden is derived from what is essentially a big table of sold prices from Land Registry with added property size information. Below are three rows from this table to give you an idea.

Address	Paid	sqm	£/sqm
13, Gibbs Close, Harpenden	£980,000 Apr-2024	136	7,205
9, Hawthorn Close, Harpenden	£720,000 Apr-2024	104	6,923
Flat 13 Sandridge House, 4, Gibbs Close, Harpenden	£490,000 Apr-2024	73	6,712

See the entire list of all sales in Harpenden (AL5 1) here.