The borough average was £560,436 in June, unchanged on the month and £25,497 below its October 2022 record. Three Hertfordshire districts hit new highs.
The average home in Hertsmere sold for £560,436 in June 2026, according to figures HM Land Registry published on Wednesday. That is £25,497 less than the borough’s own record high, set in October 2022, and it is where the interest is.
Hertfordshire as a county set a record in June. So did St Albans, East Hertfordshire and North Hertfordshire. Hertsmere did not, and it has not set one for 44 months.
The borough’s average did not move at all between May and June: a monthly change of 0.0%, one of only ten districts in England to record no movement either way. Over twelve months prices were up 2.6%, ahead of England’s 1.8% but behind the county’s 3.5%.
Still behind 2022
The UK House Price Index sets its index at 100 for January 2023. Hertsmere’s reading in June was 98.6, so the borough is still worth slightly less than it was at that base date. England’s reading is 102.6. Hertsmere last sat at or above 100 in April 2023.
Measured against each district’s own record month rather than a shared base, the county splits in two.
The full comparison, with each district’s record month:
| District | June 2026 | Record high | Set | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Albans | £651,448 | £651,448 | June 2026 | at record |
| North Hertfordshire | £422,616 | £422,616 | June 2026 | at record |
| East Hertfordshire | £460,778 | £460,778 | June 2026 | at record |
| Dacorum | £459,438 | £468,533 | November 2025 | -1.9% |
| Welwyn Hatfield | £450,696 | £462,678 | August 2022 | -2.6% |
| Broxbourne | £406,678 | £418,526 | March 2026 | -2.8% |
| Stevenage | £323,429 | £335,157 | November 2022 | -3.5% |
| Hertsmere | £560,436 | £585,933 | October 2022 | -4.4% |
| Three Rivers | £580,120 | £613,919 | September 2022 | -5.5% |
| Watford | £396,385 | £422,350 | October 2022 | -6.1% |
The pattern is not random. The three districts furthest from their records are the three that border Greater London: Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere. The three setting records are further north, and all three were cheaper to start with.
Hertsmere is still the third most expensive place to buy in Hertfordshire, behind St Albans at £651,448 and Three Rivers at £580,120. Being expensive and being on the way up have turned out to be different things.
What £560,436 hides
The borough average is a mean, not a median, and it covers four towns that share almost nothing except a council. It also flattens an enormous spread by property type.
| Type | Average | Change over 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,217,747 | +1.6% |
| Semi-detached | £629,323 | +3.9% |
| Terraced | £496,763 | +3.7% |
| Flat | £299,527 | +1.2% |
A detached house in Hertsmere now averages over £1.2m, four times the average flat. The middle of the market moved fastest over the year: semis up 3.9% and terraces up 3.7%, against 1.6% for detached homes and 1.2% for flats. The gap between a flat and a semi in this borough is £329,796.
First-time buyers paid an average of £417,101, up 2.7% over the year. Across England the equivalent figure is £245,450. A first home in Hertsmere costs a first-time buyer 70% more than a first home in England as a whole.
Where Hertsmere sits nationally
Among the 295 local authority districts in England, Hertsmere’s 2.6% annual increase ranks 142nd from the bottom, so a little below the middle. Sixty-two districts recorded a fall.
That is the honest reading of June: not a slump, not a recovery, and a borough that has spent nearly four years going sideways while the county around it moved on.
A note on last month’s figure
The index is revised as more sales are registered, and May was revised down in this release. When it was first published, May’s Hertsmere average was £562,261 with an annual rise of 2.8%. In the June file, the same month reads £560,342 and 2.4%, a cut of £1,919.
That matters if you saw the May number quoted anywhere, including on our own Borehamwood house prices page, which we have updated. It also explains why June looks flat: the starting point moved, not the finish.
What it means for you
If you are selling, the borough average has stayed within £5,000 of £560,000 every month since January. Nothing in this release supports holding out for a rising market, and nothing supports panic either. Detached sellers have the weakest hand: those homes rose 1.6% over the year while semis rose 3.9%.
If you are buying, the flat market is the softest part of the borough, up 1.2% over the year and averaging £299,527. That is the one segment where an offer below asking has the data behind it.
If you are a first-time buyer, £417,101 is the average, and it is not falling. It rose 2.7% over twelve months, faster than the borough as a whole.
If you are comparing with next door, be careful which neighbour you pick. Watford is 6.1% off its record and Barnet is down 2.9% over the year at £603,753, but St Albans is at an all-time high. The county is not moving as one market.
The next release, covering July 2026, is due from HM Land Registry in September.
Sources
- HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index full file for June 2026, published 19 August 2026, for every price, index reading, annual and monthly change, property type split and first-time buyer average in this report, and for the record months of all ten Hertfordshire districts.
- HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index full file for May 2026 for the previously published May figure, used to measure the revision.
- HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index background and methodology for the January 2023 index base and the note that the reported average is a mean.
Update, 17 September 2026: HM Land Registry’s July release revised Hertsmere’s June average up to £562,455, from the £560,436 reported here, and May down to £557,293. The July average fell to £548,704. Our report on the July figures has the detail.
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