House prices increased slightly, by 0.8%, in East Hampshire in February, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 8.5% annual growth.

The average East Hampshire house price in February was £466,836, Land Registry figures show – a 0.8% increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.2%, and East Hampshire outperformed the 1% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in East Hampshire rose by £37,000 – putting the area 20th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Maidstone, where property prices increased on average by 12.1%, to £367,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Oxford gained just 0.4% in value, giving an average price of £460,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in East Hampshire in February – they increased 1.2%, to £737,531 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 8.9%.

Among other types of property:

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in East Hampshire spent an average of £336,000 on their property – £25,000 more than a year ago, and £64,000 more than in February 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £543,000 on average in February – 61.4% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in East Hampshire compare?

Buyers paid 18% more than the average price in the South East (£396,000) in February for a property in East Hampshire. Across the South East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £288,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £721,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as more than in East Hampshire. Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Southampton (£255,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in 160.

Factfile

Average property price in February

Annual growth to February

Best and worst annual growth in the South East