Arun house prices increased slightly in December

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 12.9 per cent annual growth.

The average Arun house price in December was £336,283, Land Registry figures show – a 0.4 per cent increase on November.

Over the month, the picture was less good than that across the South East, where prices increased 1.6 per cent, and Arun underperformed compared to the 0.8 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

The best annual growth in the region was in Worthing, where property prices increased on average by 18.7 per cent, to £340,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Oxford gained just two per cent in value, giving an average price of £446,000.

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Arun in December – they increased 1.1 per cent, to £560,697 on average.

Over the last year, prices rose by 15.8 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 0.5 per cent monthly; up 14.1 per cent annually; £352,728 average

Terraced: up 0.6 per cent monthly; up 13.2 per cent annually; £286,491 average

Flats: down 0.8 per cent monthly; up 6.9 per cent annually; £181,732 average

First-time buyers in Arun spent an average of £262,000 on their property – £27,000 more than a year ago, and £52,000 more than in December 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £384,000 on average in December – 46.5 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Arun compare?

Buyers paid 11.6 per cent less than the average price in the South East (£380,000) in December for a property in Arun.

Across the South East, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £275,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £707,000 on average, and 2.1 times as much as more than in Arun.

Elmbridge properties cost 3.1 times as much as homes in Portsmouth (£227,000 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 December

Arun: £336,283

The South East: £380,237

UK: £274,712

Annual growth to December

Arun: +12.9 per cent

The South East: +12.6 per cent

UK: +10.8 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Worthing: +18.7 per cent

Oxford: +2 per cent