House prices increased slightly, by 0.7%, in East Hampshire in December, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 2.7% annual decline.

The average East Hampshire house price in December was £446,025, Land Registry figures show – a 0.7% increase on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.9%, and East Hampshire was above the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in East Hampshire fell by £12,000 – putting the area 26th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Winchester, where property prices increased on average by 7.9%, to £538,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gosport lost 11.5% of their value, giving an average price of £230,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in East Hampshire spent an average of £321,200 on their property – £9,700 less than a year ago, but £50,900 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £518,200 on average in December – 61.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in East Hampshire in December – they increased 1.3%, to £443,164 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in East Hampshire compare?

Buyers paid 18.3% more than the average price in the South East (£377,000) in December for a property in East Hampshire. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £730,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in East Hampshire. Elmbridge properties cost 3.2 times the price as homes in Gosport (£230,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in December

Annual change to December

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East