House prices increased slightly in Portsmouth in May – bucking the regional average

The slender 0.8% rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.5% over the last year.

The average Portsmouth house price in May was £255,397, Land Registry figures show – a 0.8% increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.9%, and Portsmouth was above the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Portsmouth rose by £11,000 – putting the area 17th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Winchester, where property prices increased on average by 10%, to £518,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Elmbridge, Surrey, lost 4.7% of their value, giving an average price of £665,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Portsmouth spent an average of £234,500 – £9,700 more than a year ago, and £39,900 more than in May 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £282,000 on average in May – 20.2% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in May – they increased 0.9%, to £177,467 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.1%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.5% monthly; up 5.9% annually; £537,691 average; Semi-detached: up 0.4% monthly; up 4.8% annually; £359,803 average; Terraced: up 0.8% monthly; up 4.4% annually; £276,036 average

How do property prices in Portsmouth compare?

Buyers paid 34.3% less than the average price in the South East (£389,000) in May. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £665,000 on average, and 2.6 times the price as in Portsmouth.

Elmbridge properties cost 2.7 times the price 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. There, the average house price in May was £1,314,120 – a price which would buy 11.9 homes in Burnley (£111,000 average).

Over the last year, though, the average sale price of property in Kensington and Chelsea fell by £203,000 – putting the area bottom of the UK’s local authorities for annual growth.