HOUSE prices increased by almost five per cent in Brighton and Hove in October, new figures show.

The average Brighton and Hove house price in October was £407,587, Land Registry figures show – a 4.8 per cent increase on September.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 8.8 per cent annual growth.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.7 per cent, and Brighton and Hove outperformed the 1.1 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Brighton and Hove rose by £33,000 – putting the area 41st among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Mole Valley, where property prices increased on average by 18.4 per cent, to £581,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Slough lost 0.1 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £300,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Brighton and Hove in October – they increased 6.3 per cent, to £782,954 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 11.7 per cent.

Among other types of property, semi-detached property prices rose by 5.6 per cent monthly and 10.1 per cent annually to an average of £501,913; terraced property prices increased by 5.3 per cent monthly and 9.4 per cent annually to an average of £449,904 and flat prices rose by 3.8 per cent montly and 7.2 annually to an average of £322,008.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Brighton and Hove spent an average of £356,000 on their property – £27,000 more than a year ago, and £50,000 more than in October 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £463,000 on average in October – 30.1 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Brighton and Hove compare?

Buyers paid 11.1 per cent more than the average price in the South East (£367,000) in October for a property in Brighton and Hove. Across the South East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £268,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £711,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in Brighton and Hove. Elmbridge properties cost 3.2 times as much as homes in Southampton (£222,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

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