The average BCP home sold for £310,176 in August, down 1.9% on a year: the 18th annual fall in a row. Rents rose 2.2% to £1,400, half the South West rise.
The average home in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole sold for £310,176 in August. That is £6,078 less than a year earlier, a fall of 1.9%.
It is the 18th month in a row in which BCP prices have been lower than a year before. The run started in March 2025. No neighbouring area is falling as fast.
The figures come from HM Land Registry’s UK House Price Index full file for August 2026, published on 21 October. The same day the Office for National Statistics published its local rents figures for BCP, and they point the other way.
Rents are still rising
The average private rent in BCP was £1,400 a month in September, up from £1,369 a year earlier. That is a rise of 2.2%, or £31 a month.
That is about half the rise across the South West, where rents went up 4.2% to an average of £1,251. BCP rents are now just £6 below the UK average of £1,406.
The ONS gives these averages by size of home:
| Home | Average rent, September 2026 |
|---|---|
| One bedroom | £918 |
| Two bedrooms | £1,170 |
| Three bedrooms | £1,458 |
| Four or more bedrooms | £2,083 |
Flats and maisonettes averaged £1,076 a month, up 1.9%. Semi-detached homes averaged £1,520, up 2.6%, the fastest rise of any property type.
Our neighbours moved faster. Rents in Dorset rose 4.2% to £1,059. In the New Forest they rose 2.0% to £1,249.
How BCP compares on prices
| Area | Average price, August 2026 | Change on a year |
|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £310,176 | -1.9% |
| Dorset | £328,589 | -0.4% |
| New Forest | £384,564 | -0.2% |
| South West | £304,139 | 0.0% |
| England | £293,525 | +0.4% |
| UK | £273,037 | +0.9% |
Source: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, August 2026 (provisional).
There was one small piece of better news. Prices rose 0.2% between July and August, by £565. One month is not a turn, and Land Registry warns the latest month is the least settled.
Where prices stand against the peak
The BCP average peaked at £345,134 in December 2022. August’s figure is £34,958 below that, a fall of 10.1%.
The lowest point since then was February 2026, at £307,398 in the revised figures. Prices are now £2,778 above that low.
Flats are still falling fastest
Every property type is worth less than a year ago:
- Flats and maisonettes: £196,969, down 3.9%
- Detached: £550,618, down 1.0%
- Terraced: £292,487, down 0.6%
- Semi-detached: £356,254, down 0.4%
The average flat has lost £29,766 since its peak of £226,735 in December 2022. July’s revised figure, £196,264, was the lowest for a flat since January 2021.
First-time buyers paid £248,778 on average in August, down 2.0% on a year. That is now £1,884 below the South West first-time buyer average of £250,662.
Last month’s figures have been revised
Land Registry revises recent months as late sales are registered. When we reported July’s figures, the average was £310,094 and the annual fall was 1.9%.
The revised July figure is £309,611, and the annual fall now reads 2.1%. That makes July, not August, the steepest annual fall of the summer.
Two health warnings
First, the UK House Price Index is a mean average, not a median. A few large sales in Sandbanks or Canford Cliffs can move it without saying anything about what a flat in Boscombe is worth.
Second, these figures cover the whole council area: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole together. For what homes sold for street by street in Winton, Southbourne, Kinson and the town centre, see our postcode by postcode prices.
What it means for you
- Buying: prices are still lower than a year ago, and first-time buyers now pay less here than the South West average.
- Selling: price against this year’s sales, not 2022’s. The typical BCP home is worth about a tenth less than at the peak, and flats have lost more.
- Renting: rents are still going up, but more slowly here than in Dorset or across the South West. A typical two-bedroom home now costs £1,170 a month.
- Remortgaging: a valuation fixed in late 2022 is likely to come in lower today.
The next release, covering September prices and October rents, is due on 18 November.
Have your say