This is how much the price of Mid Sussex property went up in May

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 5.4 per cent annual growth.

The average Mid Sussex house price in May was £398,331, Land Registry figures show – a 0.9 per cent increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South East, where prices increased 1.4 per cent.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Mid Sussex rose by £21,000 – putting the area 55th among the South East’s 70 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Oxford, where property prices increased on average by 16.1 per cent, to £456,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Chichester lost 2.7 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £396,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Mid Sussex in May – they increased 1.2 per cent, to £215,661 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 3.2 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.6 per cent monthly; up 5.7 per cent annually; £657,575 average.

Semi-detached: up 1 per cent monthly; up 6.1 per cent annually; £421,228 average.

Terraced: up 0.7 per cent monthly; up 6 per cent annually; £332,774 average.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Mid Sussex spent an average of £300,000 on their property – £14,000 more than a year ago, and £33,000 more than in May 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £462,000 on average in May – 53.7 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Mid Sussex compare?

Buyers paid 13.8% more than the average price in the South East (£350,000) in May for a property in Mid Sussex. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £255,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £646,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Mid Sussex. Elmbridge properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Southampton (£221,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.2 million could buy 12 properties in Burnley (average £100,000).

Factfile

Average property price in May.

Mid Sussex: £398,331.

The South East: £350,016.

UK: £254,624.

Annual growth to May.

Mid Sussex: +5.4 per cent.

The South East: +9.1 per cent.

UK: +10 per cent.

Best and worst annual growth in the South East.

Oxford: +16.1 per cent.

Chichester: -2.7 per cent.