The property market in Sussex is lagging behind most parts of the country, a new report has revealed.

The latest study by the Land Registry shows homes have increased in value in Brighton and Hove and East and West Sussex but are not keeping up with national trends.

Across England and Wales, properties increased in price by 4.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004, increasing the average property price from £182,920 to £191,327.

But in West Sussex they grew only by 0.77 per cent, putting the average price of a property up from £224,689 to £226,417.

In East Sussex the increase was 2.43 per cent, pushing the figure up from £199,747 to £204,610. In Brighton and Hove the average price went up by 4.38 per cent from £211,570 in 2004 to £220,846 last year.

Across Sussex, 8,992 homes were sold from October to December 2005 compared to 7,705 a year earlier.

Estate agents were not surprised by slow growth in the South-East.

Steve Goddard, chairman of the West Sussex branch of the National Association of Estate Agents, said earlier in the year prices had been decreasing in the South and the South-East.

These new figures, he said, represented a change in fortunes. Mr Goddard, whose firm has branches in Haywards Heath, Heathfield and Steyning, said: "The rot has certainly slowed. Prior to that prices have dropped considerably.

"In other parts of the country prices have continued to rise.

"There has actually been a change. Since interest rates went down the number of first-time buyers has increased.

"Inevitably it will have a knock-on effect."

Tim Denning, East Sussex chairman of the National Association of Estate Agents, who works with J Wagstaff of South Coast Road, Peacehaven, said: "The market generally at the moment probably across East Sussex is pretty static."

Wednesday, February 8, 2006