Rother house prices dropping slightly

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average Rother house price in the year to December was £343,157 – a 0.5% decrease on November.

The picture was different to that across the South East, where prices increased by 0.6%.

The drop in Rother contributes to the longer-term trend in the area, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 0.2% annual decline.

It means the area ranked 50th among the South East’s 64 local authorities for annual growth, with the average price in Rother falling by £830 over the past year.

The highest annual growth in the South East was in South Oxfordshire, where property prices increased on average by 9.3%.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Worthing lost 4.7% of their value.

Across the UK, average house prices in December fell slightly on the month before, but have accelerated by 4.6% over the past year.

Separate figures from the ONS show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3% in January, up from 2.5% the previous month.

The jump was stronger than analysts had predicted, with a 2.8% increase forecast.

Matt Smith, a mortgage expert at Rightmove, said: "This morning’s unexpectedly high inflation figure is likely to have a knock-on effect on some of the early momentum we were starting to see in mortgage rates coming down, as the financial markets react today.

"We’d hoped for a sustained period of gradual falls, but with inflation increasing by 0.2 percentage points more than the market expected, we can expect to see a change in that direction.

"Any news which deviates from market forecasts, is likely to cause rates to rise or fall. Over the coming days, the sub-4% rates that had only just started to come out may be the first to go as mortgage lenders re-look at what they can offer home movers."

Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of Garrington Property Finders, said: "The number of homes for sale is so abundant in some areas – even in highly sought-after, prime postcodes – that buyers find themselves firmly in the driving seat and able to drive a hard bargain on price.

"This is likely to keep future price rises modest in much of southern England, and anyone planning to put their home on the market there in the coming months will need to price it competitively to attract buyers."