Hastings house prices dropped in January

House prices dropped by 3.5% in Hastings in January, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13% annual growth.

The average Hastings house price in January was £262,064, Land Registry figures show – a 3.5% decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South East, where prices increased 0.5%, and Hastings underperformed compared to the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Hastings rose by £30,000 – putting the area 19th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in East Hampshire, where property prices increased on average by 16.7%, to £456,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Slough gained just 2.5% in value, giving an average price of £307,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses fared worst in Hastings in January – they dropped 3.9% in price, to £508,190 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 15.5%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 3.4% monthly; up 14.3% annually; £345,616 averageTerraced: down 3.3% monthly; up 13.7% annually; £265,734 averageFlats: down 3.4% monthly; up 10.2% annually; £161,237 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Hastings spent an average of £234,000 on their property – £26,000 more than a year ago, and £56,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £290,000 on average in January – 24.2% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Hastings compare?

Buyers paid 30.7% less than the average price in the South East (£378,000) in January for a property in Hastings. Across the South East, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £274,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £695,000 on average, and 2.7 times as much as more than in Hastings. Elmbridge properties cost three times as much as homes in Portsmouth (£235,000 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 January

Hastings: £262,064The South East:£378,311UK: £273,762

Annual growth to January

Hastings: +13%The South East: +11.1%UK: +9.6%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

East Hampshire: +16.7%Slough: +2.5%