Portsmouth house prices rising by more than the regional average

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 13.2% over the last year.

The average Portsmouth house price in December was £260,271, Land Registry figures show – a 0.9% increase on the previous month.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices increased 0.4%, and Portsmouth was above the 0.4% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Portsmouth rose by £30,000 – putting the area 12th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Maidstone, Kent, where property prices increased on average by 18.6%, to £372,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Tandridge, east Surrey, gained 3.3% in value, giving an average price of £530,000.

The average UK house price was £294,000 in December 2022 - £26,000 higher than 12 months earlier.

It meant prices increased by 9.8% annually in December, slowing from 10.6% annual growth in November, according to the Office for National Statistics.

First-time buyers in Portsmouth spent an average of £239,000 on their property – £28,000 more than a year ago, and £45,000 more than in December 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £287,000 on average in December – 19.7% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Portsmouth in December – they increased 1.1%, to £179,099 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 10%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.6% monthly; up 11.5% annually; £536,525 average

Semi-detached: up 0.7% monthly; up 13.4% annually; £364,861 average

Terraced: up 0.9% monthly; up 14.5% annually; £283,323 average

Buyers paid 35.6% less than the average price in the South East (£404,000) in December for a property in Portsmouth. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £294,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge, a Surrey borough serving the likes of Cobham and Walton-on-Thames – £721,000 on average, and 2.8 times as much as more than in Portsmouth.

Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Gosport (£259,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The average Havant house price in December was £341,871 – a 1.2% increase on November.

In Gosport, the average was £259,317 – a 0.2% decrease.

The average Fareham house price was £367,100 - a 0.7% decrease.

And across the county border in Chichester, the average was £477,755 – a 1.1% decrease.