House prices dropped by 1% – more than the average for the South East – in East Hampshire in May, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 3.8% over the last year.

The average East Hampshire house price in May was £453,152, Land Registry figures show – a 1% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.9%, and East Hampshire was lower than the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in East Hampshire rose by £17,000 – putting the area 25th 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 10%, to £518,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Elmbridge lost 4.7% of their value, giving an average price of £665,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in East Hampshire spent an average of £326,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £51,000 more than in May 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £527,000 on average in May – 61.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in East Hampshire in May – they dropped 1.3% in price, to £716,053 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 4.2%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in East Hampshire compare?

Buyers paid 16.5% more than the average price in the South East (£389,000) in May 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 £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £665,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in East Hampshire. Elmbridge properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Southampton (£243,000 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 May

Annual growth to May

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East