Durham Property Market: House Prices, Sold Data & Development Finance, Q3 2026 Edition

Durham: UNESCO World Heritage city with premium university housing demand and conservation area constraints.

The Durham property market recorded 2,136 residential sales in the 12 months to 31 May 2026, with a median sale price of £152,500. This places Durham £23k above the County Durham county median of £130,000, and £133k below the approximate UK median of £285,000.

Prices in Durham have recorded a moderate decline, a year-on-year change of -4.7%. Within County Durham, Durham ranks 1st by price out of 5 principal towns, and 1st by transaction volume.

On a quarterly view, Durham median prices moved from £162,000 in Q4 2024 to £140,000 in Q1 2026, a change of -13.6% over 5 quarters.

Durham County Council, the local planning authority covering Durham, approved 189 residential planning applications and refused 46 in the last 12 months, with 131 still awaiting a decision. That is an approval rate of 80%.

Those applications propose around 3,481 homes, an estimated £535.3m of development value at local sale prices. Treat the unit total as an upper bound, since an outline permission and its reserved-matters application both count.

Durham County Council covers more than one town in County Durham, so these figures are authority-wide rather than specific to Durham alone.

Property prices in Durham vary significantly by type. The table below compares Durham prices with County Durham county averages and UK national figures.

Detached homes in Durham command £265,000, while terraced properties are most accessible at £110,000. The £155k spread between the most and least expensive types indicates a relatively compressed market where margins between types are tighter.

HM Land Registry has so far registered 88 new-build sales in Durham for the past 12 months, 4.1% of registered transactions. New-build sales are typically registered 6 to 18 months after completion, so this understates current delivery and is not a completions figure.

On those registered sales, new builds in Durham sold at a premium of 67.8% to existing stock.

Across the wider County Durham market, 150 new-build sales have registered so far. See our County Durham property market report for the full county picture.

The table below shows the most recently registered residential sales in Durham, evidence of achieved prices for buyers, sellers and developers:

These transactions are sourced from HM Land Registry Price Paid data and represent completed, registered sales. The range from £97,500 to £249,000 illustrates the breadth of the Durham market.

For developers considering Durham, the local market data translates directly into finance structuring. With a median value of £152,500 and detached homes at £265,000, lenders can assess scheme viability with confidence.

A typical development finance facility for a scheme in Durham with a GDV of £265,000 would attract senior debt of approximately £172,250 at 65% LTGDV. Mezzanine finance can stretch total borrowing to 85-90% of costs, while bridging loans enable rapid site acquisitions completing in as little as 5 working days.

While prices have softened 4.7% year-on-year, experienced developers can still generate strong returns in Durham by targeting well-located sites with clear demand drivers.

Ready to develop in Durham? Submit your scheme for indicative terms within 24 hours from our panel of 100+ lenders.

To put Durham's market in context, the table below compares it with similarly-priced towns across County Durham:

For the full County Durham town-by-town breakdown, see our comprehensive County Durham property market report.