House prices increased by 1.8% – more than the average for the South East – in Waverley in March, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 1% over the last year.

The average Waverley house price in March was £516,431. Land Registry figures show a 1.8% increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices increased 0.3%, and Waverley was above the 0.7% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Waverley rose by £5,300 – putting the area 16th 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 Waverley spent an average of £379,500 on their property – £6,200 more than a year ago, and £47,500 more than in March 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £604,000 on average in March – 59.2% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Waverley in March – they increased 2.4%, to £266,199 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Waverley compare?

Buyers paid 38.4% more than the average price in the South East (£373,000) in March for a property in Waverley. 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 1.2 times the price as in Waverley. 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