Harborough district's average home reached £345,848 in June, up 9.7% in a year: the third fastest rise of 37 East Midlands councils. June itself dipped.
The average home in Harborough district was worth £345,848 in June, according to figures published this morning. That is £30,665 more than a year earlier, a rise of 9.7%.
The district is now the third fastest riser of the East Midlands’ 37 local authorities. The region as a whole managed 2.4% over the same year. England managed 1.8%.
The numbers come from the UK House Price Index, built by HM Land Registry from completed sales rather than asking prices, and published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19 August 2026.
One thing the headline hides. June itself was a down month: the average slipped 0.3% from May, the first monthly fall since February.
How Harborough compares
| Area | Average price | Change over 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Harborough | £345,848 | +9.7% |
| Charnwood | £276,865 | +3.8% |
| North Northamptonshire | £256,610 | +3.4% |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | £261,584 | +2.9% |
| West Northamptonshire | £292,754 | +2.5% |
| East Midlands | £240,457 | +2.4% |
| Melton | £283,892 | +2.2% |
| England | £293,262 | +1.8% |
| Leicester | £228,618 | +1.7% |
| Blaby | £282,918 | +0.3% |
| Rugby | £276,208 | +0.2% |
| Oadby and Wigston | £259,734 | -1.7% |
| Rutland | £299,980 | -4.4% |
Only two East Midlands districts beat Harborough over the year. Derbyshire Dales rose 11.7% to £353,364 and North East Derbyshire rose 10.6% to £250,387.
Derbyshire Dales matters for a second reason. At £353,364 it is the only district in the region with a higher average than Harborough, which makes Harborough the second most expensive place to buy in the East Midlands. The Dales has held that top spot in every month we checked back to July 2025.
At the other end, three places went backwards: Rutland, down 4.4%, Oadby and Wigston, down 1.7%, and Lincoln, down 0.5%.
Why 9.7% is not quite what it looks like
A 12-month figure is a comparison between two points, and the earlier point matters as much as the later one.
June 2025 was a bad month for Harborough prices. The average fell 2.5% in that single month, to £315,183, and was 2.3% down on the year. The district then climbed steadily through autumn 2025, dipped again in January and February, and rose hard in April and May.
So the 9.7% is measured from a trough. Comparing further back is more useful: December 2025 put the average at £341,853, which makes the gain over the past six months about £4,000, not £30,000.
Every type of home is up, and flats least
The index splits the district by property type:
- Detached: £476,866, up 9.1%
- Semi-detached: £302,379, up 10.9%
- Terraced: £250,393, up 10.8%
- Flat or maisonette: £159,084, up 7.3%
Semi-detached and terraced homes rose fastest, which is the part of the market first-time buyers and downsizers compete over. The gap between a flat and a detached house in this district is now more than £317,000.
First-time buyers are paying £277,375
The index also splits buyers rather than buildings. In Harborough district:
- First-time buyers paid an average of £277,375, up 10.3% over the year
- Former owner-occupiers paid £403,851, up 9.4%
- Cash buyers paid £336,711 and mortgaged buyers £349,811, both up 9.7%
First-time buyers saw the sharpest rise of any group. That is the number to hold on to if you are trying to get into this district rather than move within it.
What it means for you
If you are selling, the year-on-year figure is flattering and the recent trend is flat. The average has moved by about £4,000 since December. Price against May and June comparables rather than against a 9.7% headline.
If you are buying your first home here, £277,375 is the district average paid by first-time buyers, and it rose faster than any other buyer group. Harborough is £37,000 above the England average and more than £105,000 above the East Midlands average, so the same money buys markedly less here than in Leicester or North Northamptonshire.
If you are comparing areas, Blaby at +0.3% and Rugby at +0.2% are both within commuting distance and both essentially flat over the year.
Two health warnings on the numbers. UKHPI averages are means, not medians, so a handful of expensive village sales pull the district figure up. And the index is revised every month: the May average published in July was £346,278, and this morning’s release restated it as £346,868.
Our Market Harborough house prices page has the town figure rather than the district one, built from individual Land Registry sales, and breaks the district down by parish. The planning page has the housing numbers behind the supply side of this.
The July 2026 index is due at 9.30am on Wednesday 16 September 2026.
Sources
- UK House Price Index, June 2026, Harborough district, HM Land Registry, published 19 August 2026, for the district average, the annual and monthly change, the property type and buyer type splits.
- UK House Price Index, June 2025, Harborough district and December 2025, HM Land Registry, for the earlier averages.
- UK House Price Index reports, HM Land Registry, for the publication date and the next release date.
- UK House Price Index June 2026 data for Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire, Rutland, Oadby and Wigston, Lincoln, the East Midlands and England, for the comparisons and the regional ranking.
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