Hastings house prices increased in February

House prices increased by 1.4% in Hastings in February, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 16.9% annual growth.

The average Hastings house price in February was £272,752, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4% increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.3%, and Hastings outperformed the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Hastings rose by £39,000 – putting the area fifth among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Lewes, where property prices increased on average by 20.7%, to £410,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Slough lost 1.3% of their value, giving an average price of £296,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Hastings in February – they increased 1.7%, to £168,294 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 14.2%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.4% monthly; up 19.5% annually; £527,731 averageSemi-detached: up 1.2% monthly; up 17.9% annually; £358,496 averageTerraced: up 1.2% monthly; up 17.5% annually; £276,604 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Hastings spent an average of £243,000 on their property – £35,000 more than a year ago, and £64,000 more than in February 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £302,000 on average in February – 23.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Hastings compare?

Buyers paid 28.3% less than the average price in the South East (£381,000) in February for a property in Hastings. Across the South East, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £277,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £691,000 on average, and 2.5 times as much as more than in Hastings. Elmbridge properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Portsmouth (£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 February

Hastings: £272,752The South East:£380,528UK: £276,755

Annual growth to February

Hastings: +16.9%The South East: +12%UK: +10.9%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Lewes: +20.7%Slough: -1.3%