Arun house prices increased in July

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 16.5 per cent annual growth.

The average Arun house price in July was £328,299, Land Registry figures show – a 3.1 per cent increase on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.3 per cent, and Arun outperformed the 3.7 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Arun rose by £47,000 – putting the area third among the South East’s 70 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Hastings, where property prices increased on average by 23.6 per cent, to £263,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Swale gained one per cent in value, giving an average price of £259,000.

Winners and losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Arun in July – they increased 3.6 per cent, to £184,953 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 13.3 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 2.8 per cent monthly; up 17.6 per cent annually; £533,172 average

Semi-detached: up 3.2 per cent monthly; up 16.6 per cent annually; £342,203 average

Terraced: up 2.9 per cent monthly; up 17.9 per cent annually; £281,485 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Arun spent an average of £259,000 on their property – £36,000 more than a year ago, and £50,000 more than in July 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £372,000 on average in July – 43.4 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Arun compare?

Buyers paid 7.3 per cent less than the average price in the South East (£354,000) in July for a property in Arun. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £687,000 on average, and 2.1 times as much as in Arun. Elmbridge properties cost 3.2 times as much as homes in Southampton (£217,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average July sale price of £1.3 million could buy 13 properties in Burnley (average £101,000).

Factfile

Average property price in July

Arun: £328,299

The South East: £354,278

UK: £255,535

Annual growth to July

Arun: +16.5 per cent

The South East: +8.8 per cent

UK: +8 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Hastings: +23.6 per cent

Swale: +1.0 per cent