Hastings house prices dropped in December

House prices dropped by 1.4% in Hastings in December, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 6.5% annual decline.

The average Hastings house price in December was £266,793, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4% decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.9%, but Hastings was lower than the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Hastings fell by £18,000 – putting the area 52nd 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 7.9%, to £538,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gosport lost 11.5% of their value, giving an average price of £230,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Hastings spent an average of £237,000 on their property – £18,000 less than a year ago, but £47,000 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £296,000 on average in December – 24.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Hastings in December – they dropped 1.6% in price, to £273,128 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 6.8%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.4% monthly; down 5.4% annually; £518,631 average
• Semi-detached: down 0.9% monthly; down 4.7% annually; £360,451 average
• Flats: down 1.4% monthly; down 7.7% annually; £160,503 average

How do property prices in Hastings compare?

Buyers paid 29.3% less than the average price in the South East (£377,000) in December for a property in Hastings. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £730,000 on average, and 2.7 times the price as in Hastings. Elmbridge properties cost 3.2 times the price as homes in Gosport (£230,000 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 December

• Hastings: £266,793
• The South East:£377,162
• UK: £284,691

Annual change to December

• Hastings: -6.5%
• The South East: -4.6%
• UK: -1.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East

• Winchester: +7.9%
• Gosport: -11.5%