House prices increased slightly, by 0.2%, in East Hampshire in March, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 4.4% annual decline.

The average East Hampshire house price in March was £419,277. Land Registry figures show a 0.2% increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South East, where prices increased 0.3%, and East Hampshire was lower than the 0.7% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in East Hampshire fell by £19,000 – putting the area 40th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in West Oxfordshire, where property prices increased on average by 6%, to £392,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Canterbury lost 12.1% of their value, giving an average price of £322,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in East Hampshire spent an average of £304,000 on their property – £13,000 less than a year ago, but £41,000 more than in March 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £485,000 on average in March – 59.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in East Hampshire in March – they increased 0.6%, to £203,363 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 5.8%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in East Hampshire compare?

Buyers paid 12.3% more than the average price in the South East (£373,000) in March 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 £283,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £645,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in East Hampshire. Elmbridge properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Gosport (£239,000 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 March

Annual change to March

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East