Lewes house prices dropped more than South East average in March

House prices dropped by 3.5% – more than the average for the South East – in Lewes in March, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 0.4% over the last year.

The average Lewes house price in March was £400,626, Land Registry figures show – a 3.5% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.4%, and Lewes was lower than the 1.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Lewes rose by £1,700 – putting the area 63rd among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Sevenoaks, where property prices increased on average by 11.5%, to £544,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Oxford lost 0.9% of their value, giving an average price of £466,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Lewes spent an average of £311,180 on their property – £140 more than a year ago, and £59,400 more than in March 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £456,780 on average in March – 46.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Lewes in March – they dropped 4.2% in price, to £338,838 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.4%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 3.2% monthly; up 0.6% annually; £618,636 average
• Semi-detached: down 3.5% monthly; up 0.9% annually; £422,209 average
• Flats: down 3.7% monthly; down 0.9% annually; £207,890 average

How do property prices in Lewes compare?

Buyers paid 1.5% more than the average price in the South East (£395,000) in March for a property in Lewes. Across the South East, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £719,000 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 (£249,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in E09000020.

Factfile

Average property price in March

• Lewes: £400,626
• The South East:£394,543
• UK: £285,009

Annual growth to March

• Lewes: +0.4%
• The South East: +4.6%
• UK: +4.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East

• Sevenoaks: +11.5%
• Oxford: -0.9%