House prices dropped by 3% – more than the average for the South East – in Waverley in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 6.4% annual growth.

The average Waverley house price in February was £551,003, Land Registry figures show – a 3% decrease on January.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.2%, and Waverley underperformed compared to the 1% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Waverley rose by £33,000 – putting the area 45th 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 terraced houses fared worst in Waverley in February – they dropped 3.3% in price, to £422,517 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 6.4%.

Among other types of property:

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Waverley spent an average of £400,000 on their property – £23,000 more than a year ago, and £65,000 more than in February 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £650,000 on average in February – 62.6% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Waverley compare?

Buyers paid 39.3% more than the average price in the South East (£396,000) in February for a property in Waverley. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to 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 1.3 times as much as more than in Waverley. 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