Lewes house prices dropped in July

House prices dropped by 2.7% in Lewes in July, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 9% annual growth.

The average Lewes house price in July was £391,469, Land Registry figures show –a 2.7% decrease on June.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South East, where prices increased 2.1%, and Lewes underperformed compared to the 2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Across the UK, the the average UK house price leapt by 15.5% in the year to July, marking the biggest increase in 19 years.

But the increase in annual inflation was mainly because of “a base effect” from the falls in prices seen this time last year, as a result of changes in the stamp duty holiday, the ONS said.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Lewes rose by £32,000 – putting the area 61st among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Thanet, where property prices increased on average by 22.3%, to £326,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Elmbridge gained just 5.9% in value, giving an average price of £697,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses fared worst in Lewes in July – they dropped 3% in price, to £599,992 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 10.2%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 2.5% monthly; up 10.4% annually; £412,669 averageTerraced: down 2.6% monthly; up 9.4% annually; £334,675 averageFlats: down 2.8% monthly; up 4.5% annually; £203,786 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Lewes spent an average of £306,000 on their property – £23,000 more than a year ago, and £52,000 more than in July 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £445,000 on average in July – 45.5% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Lewes compare?

Buyers paid 1.8% less than the average price in the South East (£399,000) in July for a property in Lewes. Across the South East, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £292,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £697,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as more than in Lewes. Elmbridge properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Southampton (£243,000 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 July

Lewes: £391,469The South East:£398,781UK: £292,118

Annual growth to July

Lewes: +9%The South East: +15.8%UK: +15.5%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Thanet: +22.3%Elmbridge: +5.9%