House prices dropped slightly, by 0.7%, in Waverley in August, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 3.7% over the last year.

The average Waverley house price in August was £544,559. Land Registry figures show a 0.7% decrease on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices increased 1.4%, and Waverley was lower than the 1.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Waverley rose by £19,000 – putting the area 11th 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 9.2%, to £505,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in the Isle of Wight lost 5.5% of their value, giving an average price of £266,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Waverley spent an average of £401,000 on their property – £18,000 more than a year ago, and £66,000 more than in August 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £636,000 on average in August – 58.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Waverley in August – they dropped 1.2% in price, to £895,787 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Waverley compare?

Buyers paid 41.5% more than the average price in the South East (£385,000) in August for a property in Waverley. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £293,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £691,000 on average, and 1.3 times the price as in Waverley. Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times the price as homes in Portsmouth (£245,000 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 August

Annual growth to August

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East