House prices drop across the region
House prices dropped slightly, by 0.3%, in Portsmouth in February, new figures show.
But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 8 per cent annual growth.
The average Portsmouth house price in February was £258,439, Land Registry figures show–a 0.3 percent decrease on the previous month.
Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.2 per cent, and Portsmouth outperformed the 1 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Portsmouth rose by £19,000 – putting the area 26th among the South East’ s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.
The average Gosport house price in February was £259,083 – a 2 per cent decrease on the previous month. The average Fareham house price was £365,246 (a 0.4 per cent decrease) and the average price in H avant was £334,118( a 1.3 per cent decrease).
The best annual growth in the region was in Maidstone, Kent, where property prices increased on average by 12.1 per cent, to £367,000.
Properties in Oxford, though, gained just 0.4 percent in value, giving an average price of £460,000.
Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Portsmouth in February – they dropped 0.5 percent in price, to £280,498 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 8.7 per cent.
Among other types of property: Detached: up 0.4 per cent monthly; up 8.2 per cent annually; £537,607 average; Semidetached: down 0.1 per cent monthly; up 8.7 per cent annually; £364,092 average; Flats: up 0 per cent monthly; up 5.6 per cent annually ;£178,286 average.
First-time buyers in Portsmouth spent an average of £237,000 on their property – £17,000 more than a year ago, and £44,000 more than in February 2018.
Buyers paid 34.7 percent less than the average price in the South East (£396,000) in February for a property in Portsmouth.
The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge, Surrey – £721,000on average, and 2.8 times as much as more than in Portsmouth. Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Southampton (£255,000at the other end of the scale.
Average property price in February: Portsmouth: £258,439; The South East: £395,571; UK: £287,506.