HOUSE prices increased slightly in Reading in July, new figures show.

But the boost does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 2.8 per cent annual decline.

The average Reading house price in July was £294,774, Land Registry figures show – a 0.1 per cent increase on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.7 per cent, but Reading underperformed compared to the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Reading remained level – putting the area 50th among the South East’s 67 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Dartford, where properties increased on average by 5 per cent, to £306,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Basingstoke and Deane dropped 7.3% in value, giving an average price of £283,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Reading in July – they increased 0.2%, to £294,026 on average– but over the last year, prices dropped by 2.2 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.2 per cent monthly; down 2.6 per cent annually; £595,309 average

Semi-detached: down 0.2 per cent monthly; down 2.3% annually; £370,662 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Reading spent an average of £ 265,000 on their property – £8,000 less than a year ago, and £53,700 more than in Jul-14.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £ 329,700 on average in July – 24.4 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Reading compare?

Buyers paid 8.0 per cent less than the average price in the South East (£320,000) in July for a property in Reading. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £233,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £588,000 on average, and twice as much as in Reading. Elmbridge properties cost 2.9 times as much as homes in Southampton (£203,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average July sale price of £1.3 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £84,000).