Wealden house prices dropped more than South East average in November

House prices dropped by 1.4% – more than the average for the South East – in Wealden in November, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 4.3% annual decline.

The average Wealden house price in November was £408,307, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4% decrease on October.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.4%, and Wealden was lower than the 0.8% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wealden fell by £18,000 – putting the area 47th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Oxford, where property prices increased on average by 5.7%, to £507,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Surrey Heath lost 8.6% of their value, giving an average price of £430,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Wealden spent an average of £327,000 on their property – £13,000 less than a year ago, but £53,000 more than in November 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £453,000 on average in November – 38.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Wealden in November – they dropped 1.6% in price, to £311,596 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 5.4%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.5% monthly; down 4.1% annually; £615,805 average
• Semi-detached: down 1.4% monthly; down 3.5% annually; £375,378 average
• Flats: down 0.7% monthly; down 5.5% annually; £195,640 average

How do property prices in Wealden compare?

Buyers paid 5.8% more than the average price in the South East (£386,000) in November for a property in Wealden. 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 – £695,000 on average, and 1.7 times the price as in Wealden. Elmbridge properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Southampton (£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 November

• Wealden: £408,307
• The South East:£385,844
• UK: £284,950

Annual change to November

• Wealden: -4.3%
• The South East: -2.3%
• UK: -2.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East

• Oxford: +5.7%
• Surrey Heath: -8.6%