HOUSE prices dropped in Winchester in June, latest figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 0.5 per cent annual growth.

The average Winchester house price in June was £407,048, Land Registry figures show – a 1.6 per cent decrease on May.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South East, where prices increased 1.6 per cent, and Winchester underperformed compared to the 0.7 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Winchester rose by £1,900 – putting the area 48th among the South East’s 68 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Test Valley, where properties increased on average by 9.2 per cent, to £349,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Eastbourne dropped 5.0 per cent in value, giving an average price of £232,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in Winchester in June – they dropped 2.0 per cent in price, to £218,718 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.6 per cent.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.7 per cent monthly; up 1.3 per cent annually; £658,581 average

• Semi-detached: down 1.4 per cent monthly; up 1 per cent annually; £402,111 average

• Terraced: down 1.3 per cent monthly; up 0.8 per cent annually; £342,175 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Winchester spent an average of £307,720 on their property – £510 less than a year ago, and £26,030 more than in Jun-15.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £465,110 on average in June – 51.1 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Winchester compare?

Buyers paid 24.3 per cent more than the average price in the South East (£328,000) in June for a property in Winchester. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £238,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in South Bucks – £592,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as in Winchester. South Bucks properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Gosport (£205,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average June sale price of £1.4 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £92,000).