House prices increased by 1.8% in Waverley in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.8% over the last year.

The average Waverley house price in April was £540,722, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.5%, and Waverley was above the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Waverley rose by £15,000 – putting the area 54th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Dover, where property prices increased on average by 8.9%, to £330,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Windsor and Maidenhead lost 1.4% of their value, giving an average price of £532,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Waverley spent an average of £393,000 on their property – £10,000 more than a year ago, and £55,000 more than in April 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £637,000 on average in April – 62.3% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Waverley in April – they increased 2.1%, to £269,037 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.7%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Waverley compare?

Buyers paid 38% more than the average price in the South East (£392,000) in April for a property in Waverley. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £679,000 on average, and 1.3 times the price as in Waverley. Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times the price as homes in Southampton (£245,000 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 April

Annual growth to April

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East