House prices dropped slightly, by 0.7%, in Test Valley in December, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 17.1% annual growth.

The average Test Valley house price in December was £398,325, Land Registry figures show – a 0.7% decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South East, where prices increased 1.6%, and Test Valley underperformed compared to the 0.8% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Test Valley rose by £58,000 – putting the area second among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Worthing, where property prices increased on average by 18.7%, to £340,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Oxford gained just 2% in value, giving an average price of £446,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in Test Valley in December – they dropped 1.5% in price, to £199,853 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 12.7%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.3% monthly; up 19.8% annually; £644,296 average

Semi-detached: down 0.7% monthly; up 18.3% annually; £378,498 average

Terraced: down 1.1% monthly; up 14% annually; £300,856 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Test Valley spent an average of £312,000 on their property – £45,000 more than a year ago, and £70,000 more than in December 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £457,000 on average in December – 46.8% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Test Valley compare?

Buyers paid 4.8% more than the average price in the South East (£380,000) in December for a property in Test Valley. Across the South East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £275,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £707,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as more than in Test Valley. Elmbridge properties cost 3.1 times as much as homes in Portsmouth (£227,000 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

Test Valley: £398,325

The South East: £380,237

UK: £274,712

Annual growth to December

Test Valley: +17.1%

The South East: +12.6%

UK: +10.8%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Worthing: +18.7%

Oxford: +2%